Dancing to the Melody of Heartstrings
by CrzA
Summary: "K-Kacchan was the only one I've e-ever loved…" He pauses to take a gasping breath. "I still love him…" "I know." Uraraka sighs again, but this time it's not exasperated as much as it is understanding and sympathetic. "Which is why you need to get out of here. Stop thinking about him and start moving on." - Dance AU where Izuku meets Todoroki post breaking up with Kacchan
1. Chapter 1

No one had ever told him it would be this hard. Not the books, not the slice of life manga, not even the countless romance movies he'd watched like they were his religion through the years. Nothing, and he really means _nothing_ , could have ever prepared him for how bad this would suck.

Midoriya Izuku is lying upside down on his couch, half of his body hanging off the edge, his mess of green curls almost touching the floor and serving as a very ineffective broom. He's got a huge tub of ice cream on his stomach. One that's probably reaching the end because he can already feel the scrape of the spoon at the bottom as he brings increasingly smaller portions to his mouth. His phone is connected to a Bluetooth speaker, blaring the cheesiest, most depressing love songs as loud as he dares without risking his neighbours coming to break down his door with pitchforks and torches to stop all the noise. Meanwhile he's sobbing like a child, unattractive snorts and snot hanging off his nose to boot as he sings along to the songs, very much off-key and with his voice breaking every couple of words. He was never much of a singer anyway, that's probably why he went into dance instead. And he can't even do that anymore because _he_ is going to be at the studio and he'll have to see him every day if he keeps going and…

Oh, here come the waterworks again. Izuku honestly thought he'd cried himself all the way to dehydration. In the midst of throwing himself the most pitiful pity party, he doesn't even hear the keys jingling outside the apartment's door and opening it to let in his best friend. He doesn't even remember giving her the keys to begin with but knowing Uraraka, she probably made herself a copy without his knowledge.

Her voice rings clear from the far-off end of the tiny apartment and he doesn't move but for taking another spoonful of cookie dough ice cream to his lips. "Oh my god, Deku-kun, I know you said you needed space but you've been MIA for three days. You didn't even show up to work. I asked Ashido." There's a pause and Izuku can only assume that it's because she finally walked into the living room and found him in his miserable state. "Oh no… This is so much worse than I thought."

Turning his head only enough to spot Uraraka at the entrance to his little hermit's cave and confirm his suspicions, promptly going back to wolfing down the nearly melted contents of the tub resting on his belly. "Hi, Ocha…" His voice is so hoarse he hardly recognises it, likely ruined by his out of pitch screaming nonstop mixed with incessant crying.

"Dear lord, please give me strength. How long have you been like this?" She saunters into the room and straight to him, stopping in front of the couch with her hands on her hips and a raised eyebrow.

Izuku shrugs in response, not even sure what time it even is, let alone how long he's been wallowing in his sorrows, and she sighs heavily in response, sitting down on the little space next to where his ass is _somewhat_ sitting. Uraraka's first order of business seems to be taking away his only source of comfort as she quickly takes the ice cream away from his sticky hands and sets it down on the other side of the couch where he can't even begin to reach it unless he moves. So, clearly, he slumps further into the floor with a miserable and pathetic cry, his shorts sliding halfway down his rear. Any other day he would've probably been embarrassed, but right now all he could feel was the scratchiness of his throat, the prickling at his eyes, the pounding headache quickly settling behind them and the unbearable pain deep in his chest.

"Deku-kun…"

He starts sobbing harder, covering his face with his forearms and weeping into them. " _He_ used to call me Deku…"

The distinctive sound of skin slapping against skin is heard then, and he knows Uraraka's just facepalmed so hard she might've hurt herself. "He _still_ calls you Deku. Everyone over at the studio calls you Deku. Need I remind you that _you're_ the one who broke up with _him_?"

No. No she doesn't. But as soon as those words reach his ears he breaks down into wails and falls the rest of the way off the couch, curling in on himself into as tiny a ball as he can manage and hoping the ground will just swallow him up and end his existence. "B-b-because _you_ t-t-told me to!" Izuku stutters through broken breaths and heaving sobs, grabbing handfuls of his curls and tugging at them painfully.

Uraraka kneels down next to him and lays a gentle hand on his shoulder, causing him to shrink further, shying away from the touch. "Your relationship wasn't healthy. Izuku, how many times did I find you crying just as hard as this because of him? He was a jerk to you. Well he's a jerk to everyone but you get the point. You deserve so much better."

Whimpering once more, Izuku turns around and wraps his arms around Uraraka's waist, crying into her pretty shirt with no remorse. "It j-just hurts s-so much…" The pads of her fingers weave through his tangled hair, petting him comfortingly as she whispers sweet words he hardly hears over the music that's still playing over the speakers. "K-Kacchan was the only one I've e-ever loved…" He pauses to take a gasping breath. "I still love him…"

"I know." Uraraka sighs again, but this time it's not exasperated as much as it is understanding and sympathetic. "Which is why you need to get out of here. Stop thinking about him and start moving on."

The weak and dejected little hum Izuku gives her in response makes her squeeze him a tiny bit tighter, patting his head a couple of times before letting him cry himself out for a few more minutes. He doesn't think he's ever had a friend as caring and understanding as Uraraka. She was the one who managed to convince him to finally break things off with his childhood friend turned lover because clearly some things weren't quite right with their relationship. The good times were _really good_ but they didn't justify all the bad things. All the arguments, all the yelling and the breaking things, all the explosive actions and jealous episodes, the possessiveness and the constant anger. Izuku knows that deep down, Kacchan isn't a bad person. He's an impulsive, overconfident guy with a temper who can be a bit of a dick, sure, but he's not _bad_. They just weren't good for each other, for as much as Izuku loves him and he's sure he loves Izuku in return, their relationship was toxic. Izuku can see that now.

But it doesn't make it hurt any less. And Uraraka knows this, if the way she's gently cooing him into calming down his ragged breaths and stop his rush of never-ending tears is anything to go by.

When he manages to settle, at last, Izuku sits up, rubbing at sore eyes with an absolutely miserable expression plastered onto his face. Uraraka offers him a small, encouraging smile and he forces himself to return it with a sad one as wide as he can muster it. Shoving a pack of tissues into his hands, she strokes his face soothingly before giving it two gentle slaps.

"Blow your nose for goodness' sake." That draws a tiny laugh from him and she grins triumphantly while he does as he was told. "You look like a mess."

"Gee, thanks." Izuku's croaking voice drips with sarcasm and she giggles at that, to which he sticks his tongue out in return. Maturity is something he definitely doesn't lack.

"Now, you're going to get a much-needed shower while I make you proper food. Then we're going out to get you out of the dumps." She orders as she gets to her feet and skips over to the kitchenette that's attached to the living room.

Izuku shoots her an apologetic glance before staring at his hands laying lamely on his lap, still sitting on the floor and not making a move to get up at all. "Ocha… I don't think I'm up for it… I can barely stomach the idea of going back to the studio knowing he's gonna be there. And you know how much I love dancing there… Going out doesn't sound like something I can bring myself to do just yet."

Before he can even take another breath, Uraraka's back in front of him, startling him into falling backwards at the sheer speed with which she got there. "Nonsense! I'm taking you to a club where you can get a little drunk and dance your ass off. You'll see that by the end of tonight you'll be feeling like a brand-new person! Tomorrow was your day off anyway, right? If you're not fired from your job already, that is."

"I called in sick, actually." Izuku explained, rubbing at his sore eyes. In his defence, he wouldn't have been any good at managing orders in his state unless costumers wanted their drinks spiced with the salty tears of a broken-hearted bartender. He was sure that Ashido could handle his shifts for the time being, plus she kept saying she needed the extra cash so, win-win, right?

"Love sick doesn't count, Deku-kun." Uraraka tuts at him, throwing a towel at his face that he doesn't even know where she'd got it from.

"Aizawa-san doesn't need to know that." He mutters, staring dumbfoundedly from the towel to Uraraka's unwavering expression. Rolling his eyes and immediately regretting that action from the way it makes his head throb, he lets out a resigned sigh. "Fine… But if I drunk dial Kacchan, I'm blaming you."

"Like I'd ever let you do that. Who do you take me for?" On her way to the kitchenette, Uraraka picks his phone off where he'd left it somewhere on the floor and finally shuts off the depressing music. "You got ten minutes to get ready, it's already half past nine."

Izuku jumps to his feet with widening eyes at the shock and the world starts spinning as soon as he does so. Getting up that quickly after what seems to have been a whole afternoon of hanging upside down is definitely not a good idea. He braces himself against the side of his couch and shakes his head back into clarity before clambering to the bathroom and stripping off his sweaty and tear-stained clothes.

As soon as the warm water starts washing out the grime that's built on his skin over the past few days he refused to do anything other than eat, sleep and cry, Izuku realises how good it actually feels to be clean. He takes his time washing out his tangled curls, relishing in the way the water cascades down his body and lifts at least some of the pressure off of his chest. Trying not to think about all the times he's shared this very shower with his (ex)boyfriend, Izuku focuses instead on the motions of rubbing the soreness out of his muscles. He gets lost in avoiding his thoughts and doesn't notice the time passing until Uraraka knocking on the bathroom door makes him jump out of his skin and almost injure himself.

"You've been in there for nearly twenty minutes!"

"S-sorry! I'll get out in a second!"

Shutting off the water and wincing at how much he must've wasted and how it will reflect on his bills that month, Izuku quickly dries himself off and wraps the towel around his waste to rush to his bedroom and put on some clothes. But instead he finds himself face to face with Uraraka holding up a pill and a glass of water.

"For your head." He takes them from her hands with a word of gratitude and realises he's actually parched, chugging the water in one go and still feeling thirsty by the end of it. "You'll get more once you're dressed, now hurry."

When he's already behind the closed door he hears her shouting from the other side to put on something nice and he can't help the small smile that stretches across his lips. She really is a good friend… He already feels a lot better from just having her bubbly presence around him. And, of course, the shower helped a ton as well, but he most likely wouldn't have done it were it not for her telling him to, so really, this was all thanks to her. He makes sure to dig one of the shirts she's left at his house from the countless times she's slept over to replace the one he'd just soiled with his messy crying and ice cream covered hands before running out of the room.

Uraraka raises one eyebrow at him, clearly not impressed with his choice of outfit: a very well-loved (read: torn and washed out) green hoodie and dark skinny jeans. Taking the shirt from his hands and tossing her own over her head, much to his embarrassment, she starts telling him to eat what she'd prepared. Izuku's honestly not that hungry, but he has to admit a diet comprised of only cookie dough ice cream isn't exactly nutritious so he sits down and starts munching slowly on the eggs and toast she whipped up for him.

"While you finish that," Uraraka sets another glass of water in front of him. "I'll be looking for a decent shirt for you to wear."

"I'm fine like this." Izuku complains, earning himself a playful smack to the back of the head for speaking with his mouth full.

"Not in a million years. How are you going to attract any boys dressed like you just got out of a bad break up?" She bellows on her way to his closet.

"I _did_ just get out of a bad break up!"

Her head sticks out from the door and she frowns. "But you don't want to look like it."

Izuku simply shakes his head, continuing to chew on the fluffy eggs. There's no arguing with her when she gets like this, especially when he's the one she's trying to micromanage. In the end, they leave his apartment some time around ten past ten with him wearing a tank top he feels is a little too revealing for the situation at hand. But she insists that he looks great and should show off his 'rockin' bod' as she put it. It sounds like something straight out of Ashido's mouth and he wonders if maybe those two have been spending a little too much time together.

They finally make it to a club somewhere not too far from his house, as per his request in case he feels it's all a little too much and just wants to get back home as soon as possible. Understanding as always, Uraraka agreed to this condition, which was also, coincidentally, how she got him to wear the revealing tank top. Compromises, she says. Izuku sighs as they're let into the club, immediately feeling his skin clamming from the unbearable heat of swaying bodies, and thanking all the gods above that his headache had subsided. Otherwise he'd be on his merry way to dying of a liquifying brain, what with the loud music that made the floor itself tremble slightly.

As soon as they lean against the bar for the first of many drinks that night, Izuku is already starting to regret every single decision that has led him to this very moment. "Ocha… This wasn't a good idea… I think I should just go home. You've already helped me a whole bunch, I don't need this…" He has to shout over the music for her to actually get anything of what he's saying.

"Deku-kun, at least give it a chance. Just try to have some fun, okay? I'm worried about you…" Uraraka leans into him, flashing him the puppy dog eyes he was never able to resist from the moment they first met back in college. She was begging him to slip her and her friends some drinks because he was a few months older and already of legal age when she wasn't. Great way to start off a friendship… With a felony. That aside, however, she really did look like she was concerned for his mental health, if anything.

Nodding weakly, Izuku agrees. "Okay, just a few drinks though." No harm in that, right?

Oh, how wrong he was. He's on his third fruity drink, probably a 'Sex on the Beach' or maybe it was a 'Charred Orange Margarita' that he wasn't exactly tasting. Whatever it was, the tequila and vodka shots he had before that were definitely not helping his condition. Izuku is on the verge of tears, going on a rant about calling Kacchan to patch things up again and Uraraka is still completely sober despite having had just as much liquor as him and holding his phone away.

"No way, this is mine for the rest of the night."

"B-but-" he's broken off by a tiny sob. "Maybe he'll change! I need… I need to tell him that I love him and we can start over! A-as if nothing ever happened!" His words are slurred beyond comprehension, but somehow Uraraka seems to understand everything perfectly as if he had any semblance of composure and articulation.

She slips a glass of cold water in front of him. "Drink this, and then drink another. It'll help you sober up a tiny bit. Trust me, you don't want to get back with Bakugou, so I'm doing you a favour by keeping your phone."

"Ocha…" He drawls out the name, letting his head fall to the counter in defeat, despite his inebriation knowing very well that she won't budge even a little.

Izuku follows her advice and lays off the alcohol in turn of some cool water, still not daring to go to the dancefloor. Even drunk he can't seem to find it in himself to get back to it, not when it was what he and Kacchan held dearest between them. Already regaining some of his sobriety, though not much, he's taking a sip from his water when he chokes on the liquid, thinking he's clearly dreaming when he spots the person just stepping into the club.

The guy is tall and lean, his hair split straight down the middle with two different colours he can't quite make out in the dim light of the club but definitely sees are completely contrasting. When a particularly bright spotlight shines straight on him, it feels like time slows as Izuku lets his mouth hang open in awe. He can now see that his hair is snow white on the right side and a deep fiery red on the left, falling over his eyes just the tiniest bit. It is covering what looks like a birthmark that stretches over the left one, which is a striking blue, and down to half his cheek.

Wide-eyed, Izuku turns back to the bar in an instant, feeling his face heat up and not even knowing why. It's just a guy. An extremely attractive guy, but a complete stranger nonetheless. Still, his uninhibited alcohol-filled brain seems to forget to filter thoughts from reaching his mouth and he blurts out "Did an angel just walk in or am I just hallucinating?"

Uraraka follows his previous line of sight and whistles. "Damn, he's pretty."

"Gorgeous." His mouth spews before he can once again stop himself.

"Think his hair is really like that or does he dye it?" She asks with a small giggle, clapping him on the shoulder. "You should go ask him."

"What?! Are you crazy?" Izuku whisper-shouts, hiding his _still_ blushing face in his arms. "I don't know how to talk to guys! Let alone guys that hot!" Halfway through that sentence, he remembers the real reason he should _not_ do that. "I just broke up with Kacchan!"

"So? All the more reason for you to get out there and meet new people. Have a one-night stand with a hot guy, it'll do you some good."

"He's with a girl. He's probably straight." Izuku reasons, trying to talk Uraraka down. Trying to talk _himself_ down. When was the last time he was attracted to anyone who wasn't Kacchan? Never. That's it, he's never been attracted to anyone else. He's just drunk, it's the liquor talking, beer googles. Or cocktail goggles in this case.

"With hair like that? I'm sorry, Deku-kun, there's no way he's straight."

" _Even if_ that was true," Izuku takes another glance at the insanely hot guy walking over to the dance floor with the equally attractive girl behind him. "there's no way I'm talking to him."

And then suddenly, as if the universe is trying to mock him, the music changes and his favourite song starts playing. He feels Uraraka's devious smirk aimed at him before he actually turns to see it. "Well… You don't really have to _talk_ to him…"

"No." Izuku deadpans before she has even the chance to start suggesting what she's thinking of suggesting. "I'm drunk but not that drunk."

"Yes, you are." She shoots back with a sly grin.

"Yes, I am." _Damn it, why does she know me so well._ He feels his body start to itch with a need he's much too familiar with, his foot tapping along to the beat and his hips start to swing with the flow of the music. "I hate you." He murmurs, taking Uraraka's Vodka Martini and chugging it down then making his way to the dancefloor where the mysterious guy is dancing with the girl.

He reaches them just as the song is reaching its second verse and he feels the music flow straight into his body, filling his veins with this kind of electricity that just spreads to the tips of his toes and makes him want to move. Izuku doesn't think about it, he never has, just lets his limbs move to the beat, movements precise yet fluid as they take him through the dancefloor as if he's floating high above in the clouds.

The crowd clears up as soon as he starts moving, watching him with curious smiles on their faces, and the half-split guy is no exception. He turns to him with interest shining in those eyes Izuku now sees are also mismatched and watches him. Izuku thrusts his hips in time with the beat, flowing into quick footwork and swinging with languid movements as his hands slide down his body, drawing attention to the way it flows like a wave. He twists and turns on the tips of his toes, his eyes always focused on the guy that's watching him just as intently and it feels amazing. He almost doesn't care that he's probably making a fool of himself to a stranger he's never seen before in his life.

When he finishes with a hand running down his hair and another rubbing up his thigh, a small trilling laugh at his lips and hollers from the crowd, what he doesn't expect is the guy stepping in front of him with a cocky half-smirk and mimicking some of his moves. He adds a twist of his own to a few of them as the music changes, moving with a meticulousness he's not used to seeing in this kind of dance but is mesmerising nonetheless. The song finishes and switches to something else entirely, and the crowd gets back to dancing without a care in the world, the moment gone as if it had never even happened.

But the guy is still in front of him, brushing the dual coloured hair from his face and smiling at him again. His lips move but Izuku can't quite hear it over the loud music, yet the way he starts moving towards the bar with a gesture of 'coming?' with his head, gives him all the context he needs. With the invitation follow more drinks and more dancing and then the rest of the night is a blur.

Izuku wakes up the next morning on the floor with a groan, having fallen off his bed sometime during the night and being too drunk to get himself back up, most likely. He rubs his face blearily, feeling the hangover hammering at the back of his head painfully and noticing that he's still in his clothes from the night at the club. His memories of what happened are fuzzy, all he remembers being Uraraka stealing his phone before he drunkenly called his ex, begging him to take him back. And when he finally properly opens his eyes, he looks at his forearm and shoots up with a scream.

The night before comes crashing into him like a ton of bricks when he sees the number scrawled on his skin messily, the name 'Todoroki Shouto' written below it in beautiful handwriting despite the horrible medium in which it was jotted down. Oh no… _Oh no…_ He got really drunk and tried to seduce a complete stranger way out of his league by _dancing_ for him. After just breaking up from a long-term relationship. His _only_ relationship ever. And it somehow… worked?

"What the actual fuck?"

 **NOTES:** **I kept watching choreography videos and imagining Izuku dancing them for Todoroki and then this idea popped up into my head... And then it wouldn't leave me alone for the life of me... SO despite not knowing anything decent about dance, here it is! Please forgive my ignorance when it comes to techniques and the works of the dancing world but I'm trying my best hehe**

 **Anyways, hope that was enjoyable at the very least and feel free to leave any feedback you may have! (Tips on dance moves and the basics of dance companies are welcome!)**


	2. Chapter 2

Izuku runs out of his room in a panic, unintelligible mutterings spilling straight out of his mouth as he goes through every little moment he can recall and inwardly cringes his way into the fourth dimension. When he spots Uraraka happily humming to a song while twirling around in his kitchenette he screams at her and she has the _gal_ to smirk at him.

"What is this?!" He lifts his scribbled arm above his head, pointing at the accusing digits with an expression of pure horror.

"Morning to you too, sunshine. I'm making pancakes." Uraraka smiles sweetly at him, completely ignoring his question and going about her cooking as if he hadn't even said anything.

"I don't want your damn poisoned pancakes! Explain this thing on my arm, now!" Izuku punctuates his demands by stepping closer and shoving his arm in front of her face.

She gingerly grabs his wrist and pushes him out of her line of sight, tilting her head to a side slowly while raising a deceivingly innocent eyebrow. "Why, it seems like a phone number." Gasping exaggeratedly, Uraraka covers her mouth. "Deku-kun, did you hit it off with the really cute guy at the club?"

Shoving his arm back down to his side, Izuku grunts, unamused, and slumps into a seat by the counter holding his head in his hands. "This is fake, right? He was messing with me because I'm an idiot and he thought it'd be funny to give me some old dude's number, right?"

"Actually, he texted you this morning asking if you were too hungover. It's kind of sweet to be honest." Her giggles go completely ignored as Izuku blanches and gets back on his feet in a flash, turning around and sweeping the little apartment with his eyes in search of the forest green cover of his phone. "Wow, someone's desperate. Relax, I'm joking, you were a bit too out of it to remember your phone number so he wrote his on your arm. The phone is by the TV charging, and I already saved him to your contacts by the way, you're welcome."

He lunges for the phone and scrolls through his contacts and true enough, there's a new 'Todoroki Shouto 3' added to the list.

"What the hell is with the heart?" He shrieks, staring at the screen as if it has personally offended him, his thumb hovering over the delete option but not actually pressing down. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Uraraka shrug with an amused grin gracing her lips as she sets down a plate of fluffy pancakes covered in syrup on the counter.

"Would you rather I put it down as 'Deku's new eye candy'?" Her lilting laughter fills the room and he feels his face setting on fire as he immediately rejects the suggestion.

Unplugging the charger, Izuku throws his phone onto the couch, the fact that the contact remained unchanged and undeleted not going ignored by his accusing thoughts. _It's just a number, it's not like I'll ever see him again._ He justifies himself, running a hand through his hair and walking back to Uraraka's side.

"Admit it though," She starts again as he's shoving the first bite into his mouth "you enjoyed yourself."

Izuku grumbles, rubbing at his sore head for some sort of relief he knows he won't get so easily. "It doesn't really matter. One fun night with a complete stranger I probably won't ever see again, isn't going to erase all of the years I've spent with Kacchan. It won't make the pain go away and it won't just make me stop thinking about him."

He feels the tears prickle at his eyes as the words leave his mouth, the heavy darkness he's had surrounding his heart and weighing on his chest these past few days, unexpectedly returning with a vengeance. Guilt washes over him like an ice-cold bucket of water being poured over his head, a sinking feeling settling in his gut that makes him feel sick and he has to push the barely touched pancakes away. Suddenly, all of his appetite seems to have escaped him and the slow pull of grief tugs at his heartstrings.

What was he thinking? One night wasn't going to change anything. A random guy wouldn't heal all of his wounds. He shouldn't even be thinking about anyone else right now. For all he knew even if he did start something it would just end the same way. He'd just get hurt all over again. Or worse, he'd hurt the other person, selfishly thinking about the past as if it's ever going to give him anything new. Before the sadness starts to actually spill down his cheeks, Uraraka has turned the counter and is hugging him from behind as he hides his face behind his arms and takes in a heaving breath that shakes him to the core.

"I know it's hard… I just want you to be okay, Deku-kun. Promise me you'll be okay." Her voice is sweet and soft, nothing but a caressing whisper mumbled into his hair that she kisses gently, reassuringly.

As much as he wants to promise her that, tell her what she wants to hear, Izuku can't bring himself to say the words, he just whimpers quietly and shakes his head in an attempt to make the thoughts and the feelings crumble into dust. But he was never good at bottling things up, at hiding his pain behind sweet smiles, because even as he smiled his eyes betrayed him. His heart overflowed with emotion that he couldn't keep to himself and everyone around him suffered for it. This was why he said he needed space, he knew it would hurt his friends to see him like this. Izuku needed time to sort through his emotions until he could face them again.

Unfortunately, life wouldn't wait for him forever. It kept on going without him and, one way or another, he had to get back up on his feet.

Wiping at his eyes, he straightened up and brought a trembling hand to lace his fingers through his best friend's. "I'll be fine, eventually. It's just a little too raw."

Uraraka nods, resting her chin on his head while standing on the tips of her toes. Izuku was a little taller than her, even sitting down. "I have to go to work soon." She tells him, still speaking softly as not to disturb him further, like he's an injured animal that would run away at the slightest of noises.

"How are you not hungover right now?" Izuku manages to joke, cracking a smile as he looks up at her through red-rimmed eyes.

"I'm not a lightweight, like you." She grins in return, flicking his nose playfully then leaving an affectionate peck on his forehead. "Come by the studio today. Everyone's missing you, especially Yagi-sensei."

"I don't know, Ocha…" Izuku's mind immediately offers a crystal-clear image of Kacchan's unforgiving scowl, his cold red eyes staring him down with seething anger he's no doubt been letting fester ever since he ended it.

The break-up had in no possible way been a clean one. It was filled with tears (on his part) and angry denials (on Kacchan's part), shouting and even some broken pictures on top of his broken heart. The frame was still on his dresser, albeit facing down, the glass cracked beyond repair and the photo behind it holding memories that were now bittersweet whenever he looked at them. Kacchan had thrown it to the floor in a fit of rage, saying that if he was willing to throw what they had away so easily, then he might as well do the same. It hadn't been easy though, it had been anything but, heart wrenching, absolutely devastating. As soon as the door to his apartment slammed shut, he'd broken down in incessant tears that only seemed to stop when he passed out from the sheer exhaustion it all brought.

Izuku doesn't know if he is ready to face him yet. He honestly doesn't know if he will ever be ready.

"You can't stop living your life on his account. You can't stop doing the things you love because you're scared he'll be there. It's your life, Deku-kun, you have to stop letting him control it." Uraraka embraces him tightly for a few more heartbeats before finally letting go and giving his shoulders a squeeze. "You're strong, you'll get through this."

Wordlessly, Izuku nods, mumbling a choked 'thank you' before turning around to face her. Standing up, he wraps her in a rib-crushing hug that has her wheezing for breath but she returns nonetheless. "I'll try to go."

Uraraka pats his head, offering him a bright and toothy grin as she steps away towards the door, grabbing her things from where they're sitting on the couch. "I'll be waiting for you then. I miss dancing with you. And that hot bastard hogged you all night until you finally came crawling back because he had to leave with his girlfriend. So rude."

"Girlfriend?" His head whips up out of its own accord, green eyes widening to the size of saucers at the word and she laughs.

"The girl he was with, who happens to be his friend." For some unexplained reason, Izuku feels his cheeks flare and he looks away. "You're cute when you're flustered. You should really give him a call if he's got you this smitten after just one night."

"I'm not smitten!" He shouts after her, but she's already out the door and on her merry way to the bakery she works at during weekdays. Sighing, Izuku slumps back onto the seat, eyeing the discarded phone on the couch from the corner of his eye and scowling at it. "I am _not_ smitten…" He mumbles to no one in particular, maybe the universe, maybe himself, whoever it was, he just had to say it.

Izuku eventually resigns himself to the facts. He got drunk last night, he's terribly hungover and there's a new contact on his phone. That's it. That's all there is to it. No use in dwelling over it further.

He sets about getting his life back together, starting by taking something for his splitting headache then returning to his daily showering habits. After three days of being a mess and a complete hermit slob, that really was one of the things he feels he needed the most. There was nothing like a warm shower to draw out some of the negativity lodged deep inside him, kind of like sweating out toxins but so much more relaxing. Plus, he really needed to scrub that number off of his arm if he wanted to wear any short-sleeves today... If he actually went out, that is.

He then proceeded to make sure he wouldn't actually get fired from his job and unlocked his phone, his heart jumping right back to his throat when it flashes him the guy's number with that stupid little heart at the end of the name. Continuing to scroll, Izuku pulls up Aizawa's number and shoots him a text to let him know he'll be back at the bar tomorrow, now that he's feeling a little better. Emotionally, rather than physically, but again, that's not something his boss needs to know.

Just as he's about to tidy up his house a little and open some windows to let out the stench of sadness and despair, there's a ding from his pocket that makes him jump in surprise. His brain immediately provides the guy's beautiful face, which is simply dumb because he doesn't have _his_ number so how the hell could it be him to begin with? And it's not like he wants to hear from him again. He was drunk, he just got out of a relationship, and Izuku is _not_ the kind of person to get a rebound. He's better than that.

When he finally shakes the thoughts out of his head, the guilty cloud hanging over him as they drift back to a head of spiky blonde hair, he finally fishes the phone out to see a message from Aizawa. He sighs in relief before actually thinking about the fact that it's still _relatively_ early (by Aizawa's standards) and him being awake already can't possibly be a good thing. Izuku thinks he needs another shower already because he starts sweating nervously. Bracing himself, he finally opens the text.

 **[Aizawa Shouta 10:13 am]**

 _Thank god. Ashido spends more time flirting with the costumers than actually serving drinks, she's driving my business to the ground._

Izuku nearly collapses from the weight suddenly lifted off his shoulders then starts to laugh to himself, imagining the pink-haired girl making googly eyes at everything that moves and probably holding up about half the bar in the process. Maybe it was a bad idea to hand her the shifts after all. He replies with an apology that he only half-means and an assurance that he'll get things back on track as soon as possible. There was a reason why Ashido worked the dead hours. Izuku somehow had the knack to convince people that they needed more drinks than they actually did, all within the limits of not giving anyone alcohol poisoning, of course. Plus, he got really good at mixing drinks after Aizawa showed him the ropes, even getting a little creative with some of them. Some of those experiments ended better than others, but hey, a couple of his creations had actually started to get a pretty popular demand.

Connecting his phone to the speakers, he starts playing a more upbeat playlist rather than the depressing one he's had on repeat for the past few days and starts doing some cleaning, if anything, to clear his mind from everything else as well. Izuku can't resist tapping his foot as he goes along dusting or swaying his hips as he sweeps. Music always played such a big part in his life, infecting him with this desire to just move along with the melodies and flowing with them. Besides, it made cleaning so much more fun. His mother used to love watching him wiggle to some of the songs, bright-eyed and giggly, when he was little, and as he grew up that love for movement just never really went away.

The older he got, the more seriously he'd take every single one of his moves, starting to watch videos online to learn intricate routines until he found someone he could look up to. Yagi Toshinori, or in the business more well-known as All Might, who moved with such passion and all for the smiles it brought to people's faces. He was passionate, driven and he moved with both grace and fervour, displaying an amazing handle on technique that left Izuku breathless. Unfortunately, he was caught in a car accident that left him unable to move the way he used to so he decided to start teaching instead, unwilling to give up on his life-long dream of bringing joy to people through dance.

Izuku fought tooth and nail to get into that school, going against people like Kacchan who'd been getting classes ever since he could walk and seemed to be born with a natural talent. But he wasn't one to give up, through hours upon hours of practice on his own time, Izuku turned his clumsy steps and jerky movements into elegant and fluid ones. And now he was part of the company that All Might himself had founded, performed his choreographies for people all around Japan... It was really a dream come true.

Before he realises it, Izuku has cleaned through his whole house as he reminisces, his stomach bringing his thoughts to a grinding halt as it starts digesting itself from the inside out and singing the song of its people. He finally sits down to eat the pancakes Uraraka had made for him, scrunching up his nose at the chewiness, now that they're cold. They're still delicious, in spite of that, so he continues to near inhaling them to appease his growling insides.

When he finishes the breakfast turned... very late lunch, he's left still quite hungry, so he goes to raid his fridge and finds it empty but for a couple of expired yoghurts and mouldy cheese. With a disgusted grimace, Izuku slowly removes the 'food' items into a bag with the rest of the trash he picked up around the house and puts on some casual clothes to go do some much-needed shopping. Maybe he'll even stop for some coffee and a snack. Yagi-sensei would probably scold him for the overly unhealthy diet he's suddenly adopted but he's emotionally wounded, he needs his comfort food. He'll have to understand.

Gathering his phone, keys and wallet, Izuku's out the door, straight for Uraraka's workplace in hopes of getting free food.

"No."

"Aww, come on Ocha... I'm starving... Feed your poor friend!" Izuku pouts at her from behind the counter as she prepares another costumer's order of cupcakes.

"You want food, you pay for it like everyone else, I'm not encouraging your free-loading habits." She scolds him with an amused half-smirk before turning to the sweet older lady by his side and changing her expression entirely to that of an innocent young girl. _Deceit!_ "Here you go, Ito-san. I hope your daughter's baby shower goes well!" Waving the lady off she turns back to him with a mischievous glint in her eye. "Unless..."

Izuku immediately feels his face fall, this can't possibly spell good news for him. "What." He deadpans, the word coming out more as a statement rather than a question.

"I'll buy you red velvet cake if you come by the studio with me later." There it is, the bribe.

Measuring the pros and cons of this offer, the answer should be clear. On the one hand there's the fact that he misses the place and its people and should really not stay away too long. But then there's the fact that Kacchan will _definitely_ be there, and most likely using the room that he and Uraraka share for their joined practices. He's _definitely_ not going to be happy, and he'll _definitely_ yell at him. He shouldn't go. And yet...

"Red velvet's my favourite..." Izuku grumbles under his breath, eyeing the tasty treat through the glass case, the off-white cream cheese frosting making it glisten with mouth-watering gooeyness. And if Uraraka is the one that made it, it is sure to be moist and melt-on-your-tongue kind of fluffy. "You're evil." She just shrugs, tilting her head at him and wiggling her eyebrows at him. "Fine. I accept your terms, demon."

With a giggle, Uraraka writes down the order for later and then hands him the coffee he actually came to buy and throws in a pity cupcake. "That'll be 300 yen." He hands her the money with a heavy sigh that could easily rival a lovesick girl in a high school romance drama.

"I have to go do some grocery shopping though, I'll be here by the end of your shift." She nods at him excitedly as he waves her goodbye and lets her get back to other costumers just arriving.

* * *

He takes a little longer than he expected to get everything he needed, given that his house had become embarrassingly barren of food and other basic necessities when he holed himself up in there. Especially toilet paper, which he used about 98% of to blow his nose over and over again until it was raw as he cried his eyes out. And after putting everything in its rightful place, he looks at the time on his phone and sees that he should probably be headed back out soon if he wants to make it to the bakery on time. He gets his keys again and starts on his way there so that he wouldn't have to actually run, or risk a stream of texts claiming betrayal, now that she'd probably already paid for the cake and he was leaving her hanging. He has to admit it crossed his mind, but he is a man of his word, even if he wouldn't put it past Uraraka to just eat the cake on her own rather than give it to him.

Izuku's mind starts drifting back to the new contact as he scrolls past news and memes on his social media feeds and against his better judgement he pulls up the info and stares at it intently, his lips pulling to a taut line. He ponders whether he should actually do anything with it rather than delete it. If anything, the guy ('Todoroki', the name that he refuses to get acquainted with glares back at him) had seemed nice. Hot as well, yes, no doubt about it, but that's irrelevant. His dance moves weren't the best out there, but he was amazing for any random bystander, which made him think he maybe did this professionally as well. One point that they had in common, and one that weighed heavily in Izuku's opinion of him too, as biased as that may be. He was also clearly friendly, willing to buy him drinks after him acting like an idiot in front of him...

But then again... Why is Izuku even thinking about this? He doesn't even know if the number is real and it might've been that the guy just wanted a... 'good time' if he actually wasn't straight like he originally thought. For all he knows, this is all just a big whole pointless joke. _Just like the rest of my life._

As he's about to delete the contact once and for all, lost in his own reverie, Izuku walks face first into something ( _someone_ ) with an 'oof'. He almost drops his phone to the floor as he backs out of the contact information. He looks up, ready to apologise for his carelessness when his words die completely in his mouth at the sight in front of him.

"You should really watch where y- Midoriya?" Izuku stares with his jaw hanging halfway to the floor at the sheer _impossibility_ of what's happening right now. He blinks stupidly at the guy from the night before, all up in his face and close in broad daylight and even hotter than his alcohol filled brain had remembered.

"Oh my god..." He finds himself breathing out, completely unwarranted and escaping all of his filters between mind and mouth. Especially when he can finally tell that the birthmark on his face wasn't actually a birthmark at all, but a scar that surrounded his left eye completely down to half his cheek in bumpy and rough skin. _He was so much more tragically beautiful than I thought._ His brain provides against his will.

The guy- Todoroki notices his whole lot of staring and whole lot of not talking and shifts slightly, looking away as a hand comes up to that left side of his face. "Is something on my face?"

Eyes widening, Izuku realises exactly what he means and lifts his hands up defensively in a flash. "Oh god! No, nonono, that's not- I just- I mean- Iwasn'tthinkingaboutyoujustnoworanything. What. It's YOU!" He stumbles over his words embarrassingly and mentally kicks himself bloody pausing for an unbearably long heartbeat before continuing. "T-T-Todoroki-san, right?" He winces at the uncertainty in his own voice and the _stupid_ stutter. _What am I? A pre-pubescent middle schooler?!_

The g- _Todoroki's_ lips quirk up a little at the corners and he moves the hand over to the back of his neck, mismatched eyes looking at him from a few inches higher as he breathes out a little harder in a semblance of a laugh. "Um, yeah... I was starting to think you'd forgotten my name. You can drop the formality, we're the same age as I understand."

"R-right. S-sorry Todoroki-san..." He raises an eyebrow, probably at the fact that he used the honorific anyway, but it could also be because he just won't stop stuttering. Izuku clears his throat loudly. "Anyway, sorry for bumping into you... Literally... But I'm kind of in a hurry so I have to go." He excuses himself from the achingly improbable embarrassing situation.

"Sure, it was nice seeing you again today. Hope I do so more often soon." Todoroki flashes him one quick and small smile that almost seems a little shy and Izuku's throat closes up. His heart starts jackhammering and his cheeks try to collect as much blood as humanly possible.

"Y-yeah, okay... S-see ya..." Izuku mumbles, hiding his face in the hood of his hoodie vest and side-stepping around him with a nervous laugh.

As soon as he turns the corner he starts bolting it towards Uraraka's work.

 **NOTE: The second chapter! No actual dancing on this one, unless you want to count Izuku's hip shaking while cleaning xD**

 **Hopefully, you enjoyed that! I've been having a blast writing this AU, it's just fun, so I hope you think so too ^-^**  
 **Feel free to leave any feedback you may have!**


	3. Chapter 3

Uraraka is already waiting outside, looking at her phone with a cake box hanging from her right hand, when Izuku crashes into her and starts shaking her by the shoulders. He's talking a mile a minute, his tendency for mumbling coming back with a vengeance as he spouts out words that don't seem to make any sense to anyone who isn't him.

"Wow there, slow down a smidgen Deku-kun!" Her eyes widen slightly as she puts up a hand in a 'stop' motion to get her point across.

Izuku pauses for a gasping breath, letting his head fall slightly and a low whine form in his throat. "I saw him..." He says simply, continuing before she has the chance to ask 'who?' "The guy from the club. On my way here. I walked right into him and I think that he thinks I find his scar unsettling because I couldn't stop stating at him. Oh god why couldn't I stop staring at him? He probably thinks I'm a jerk. Or worse, a freak!"

Finally letting go of Uraraka's shoulders, Izuku hides his face in his hands and once again lets out a miserable little noise. She laughs at his suffering, the traitorous backstabber, and it only makes it that much worse.

"Relax, I'm sure it's not as bad as you're making it out to be. You have a problem with overthinking." She taps his forehead with an accusing finger and Izuku looks at her from in between his.

"You don't understand. I kept stuttering like an idiot! And I'm pretty sure I implied I was thinking about him before," Realising what he just said, he immediately backpedals "WHICH I WASN'T." Awkwardly clearing his throat and feeling his face starting to burn, he starts examining his shoes as if they're the most interesting thing on the planet. "Anyway, I kind of want to die right now and I don't think it's a good idea for me to go with you."

"Oh no, nuh-uh, you're not backing out of this that easily. We had a deal, honour your part or suffer the consequences." Uraraka gives him a stern look and he blanches.

"What are the consequences..." His words trail off into silence, unsure if he wants to actually hear the answer. When she dangles his phone in front of his face, he nearly chokes, reaching for it desperately, but she's too fast for him to even get close. _How did she even get that?!_

"I'll use this to arrange a date for you two."

"WHAT? You wouldn't!" The outrage was evident in his voice but, unfortunately, so was the crushing doubt.

"Wouldn't I?" Uraraka's expression turns dark, a devilish glint settling in her eyes, and Izuku gulps audibly before nervously trying to defuse the situation.

"I just wouldn't go. What am I saying? He wouldn't even say yes to begin with."

"Oh, but if he did, you don't have the heart to stand him up. If you're so sure he wouldn't accept just let it happen."

"You- but I- that's just... If you do that you're just gonna make me seem like an even bigger jerk than he probably already thinks I am! You shouldn't play with people like that, Ocha!" The way she just shrugs and flashes him an evil grin has him questioning all of his life choices up until this point. _Why are we best friends again?_

"I'm only doing this for your own good. You need to get out of that house."

"I did! I'm right here! Outside the house!" He shouts indignantly, throwing his arms up in the air in frustration and earning himself some strange looks from people walking past them on the streets.

"You know what I mean. Get back to your life, stop trying to avoid Bakugou or dwelling on 'what ifs'." Uraraka shoves his shoulder lightly, her face softening with a plea.

 _Ah, that's why..._ She really was just trying to help him out of this slump. Whether her methods are legitimate or not is a completely different story, but she means well. Hell, she probably wouldn't even go through with it and is just trying to get him to act on his own. Izuku sighs heavily and reaches for his phone once more, yet this time, she lets him take it back. Taking the hand he'd just freed up for Uraraka, he starts walking towards the studio with her in tow.

"Good choice." She smiles up at him before resting her head on his shoulder for a second and he sighs again, albeit a little more theatrically.

"I know. Seriously though, you need to stop using threats and bribes to get what you want." Izuku chuckles lowly, bumping his hip into hers.

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

Shaking his head, Izuku rolls his eyes at her, but he's smiling softly, in a way that he's been able to do only ever since she showed up at his apartment to cheer him up. If not for her, it was highly likely that he'd still be sitting in the darkness, crying by himself and wondering if all the pain was even worth it. He'd be lying if he said it doesn't hurt anymore, it does. But it's because of her that he's up and about instead of wallowing in self-pity.

Izuku squeezes her hand slightly and she returns it as they keep walking side by side and some of the weight in his chest seems to slowly be lifting. He starts thinking about dancing with her again, with everyone else, and finds that the corners of his lips are doing an awful lot of twitching. Soon, he just stops resisting it and there's a goofy grin plastered on his face that Uraraka definitely doesn't miss when she turns to glance at him.

"Thinking about the cute guy?" She teases, letting go of his hand to poke his side.

His cheeks flood with a crimson tinge and he looks away with a scowl. "No. I was thinking about you, actually. And all the others. About dancing with you guys."

It's her turn to become a little pinker than usual in the cheeks, smiling at him as she flings an arm over his shoulders and pulls him to her. "Look at you, being all cheesy."

Shoving her away with an overly exaggerated frown he clicks his tongue at her. "You're ruining it."

Izuku's heartrate picks up when he finally sees the building in the distance, spotting bright blonde hair that has him choking for a second before actually rationalising that Kacchan's hair is ashier. And looks literally nothing like Kaminari's. His anxiety really is getting out of hand all of a sudden. As if understanding his sudden panic, Uraraka holds his arm for a moment in a reassuring gesture and Izuku tries to breathe. It's a little harder than he would like to admit but he can handle it.

As soon as they make it through the door, Izuku barely has time to take in the familiar surroundings before his feet are being swept off of the floor.

"Midoriya, my boy!" Izuku yelps at the large man spinning him around once before setting him back on steady ground. Even if he's a little disoriented and it feels like said ground is moving away from him. "I hear you've been missing! What luck that the day I come by is when you decide to return as well!"

Rubbing the back of his neck, Izuku laughs nervously and shifts from one foot to another. He didn't expect Yagi-sensei to even notice his absence despite Uraraka's comment that he missed him… The tall and larger than life man had taken a liking to Izuku from the moment he first stepped into the auditions to get into the school, sure, but he never thought… He honestly thought that Uraraka was just saying that to further convince him to come back sooner. When he glances at her from the corner of his eye and spots the impish smirk dancing on her lips, it hits him like a truck that she knew he'd be here today. _That sneaky-_

"So, what's been keeping you away?"

Izuku snaps his attention back to his idol/teacher and once more lets out a trembling little laugh. "Uh… I was… You see…" What was he supposed to say to that? _Oh, I'm sorry sensei, I broke up with one of your best dancers and my childhood friend and don't trust myself to look at him again without either breaking down crying or begging him to have me back. Also while crying._ Because that would go swimmingly.

"Deku-kun was a little sick, that's all." Uraraka comes to his aid with her innocent little smile that seems to somehow deflect the attention from him and he tries not to sigh in relief.

"I see, well I'm glad to see you're doing better." Yagi-sensei claps him on the shoulder and he nearly topples over from the sheer force.

Despite his injury having taken most of his strength the man still manages to pack a lot of punch. Where he gets all his energy from? Izuku may never really know. He smiles shakily while he whispers a 'thank you' before Yagi-sensei goes off to do whatever business he'd come to take care of and Uraraka goes to one of the lockers to leave the cake and her bag.

As they make their way towards their usual little corner of the studio, Izuku can't help but stare all around him in earnest. He's scanning every face, the back of everyone's heads, every wall, door and window. Searching. With each step they take forwards, his heartrate picks up and his body shakes just a little harder. His heart is in his throat, forming a lump there that makes it nearly impossible to breathe, and it's all he can do to blink away the tears that are building up in his eyes. Izuku feels as if he's on the verge of a severe panic attack and the only thing that's grounding him is Uraraka's fingers brushing the back of his hand.

All of that ceases when they finally reach their regular room and there he is, with his back turned to them. Izuku brings one of his hands up to his chest, gripping the fabric of his vest so tightly his knuckles turn pale white. Kacchan is stretching, though Izuku isn't sure if he's warming up or cooling down, but from the way his clothes seem to be completely dry, he would guess the first. He looks up and crimson eyes meet his in the large mirror that covers the far end wall opposite the doorway he's standing in.

Kacchan's expression is always defaulted to a scowl, but as soon as he sees him standing there, the corners of his lips pull down even further. Izuku sees his fist clench around his elbow where he'd been pulling to stretch out his shoulder muscles and it feels like it's his heart he's crushing. Jaw dropping slightly, Izuku feels like he should say something, anything really, but no sounds come out but for the shuddering breath that leaves him harshly. The next move his brain suggests is to turn tail and just run away as far and as fast as his legs would take him, but his muscles are locked in place.

When the blonde turns around to actually face them, Izuku feels the urge to flinch but he still can't seem to move. He expects Kacchan to yell, to lash out, to explode right in his face, insult him and throw poisoned words his way. But what happens instead, is that he wordlessly moves to where he'd discarded his jacket and picks it up off of the floor. He walks straight for him, his fiery gaze never leaving him and shoves his way past him, knocking him sideways with a shoulder, no words, no shouting, nothing. And somehow it hurts so much worse.

Finally managing to get his body to respond, Izuku reaches for him. "Kacchan…" His voice calls, weak, small, _desperate_. But he doesn't even acknowledge any noises coming from him, and now Izuku's trying to go after him. Uraraka's hand around his wrist is what stops him, bringing him back from wherever his mind was and pulling him to the here and now. He looks back at her and notices with a start that his face feels wet.

Reaching for his cheeks with his free hand, Izuku's fingertips become damp with the tears that stream freely from the corners of his eyes without him even realising. When he turns back to Kacchan, he's no longer there and Izuku has no idea where he's gone but he feels the overwhelming desire to go find him. Yet Uraraka tugs on his arm and pulls him into the room against his will, causing him to stumble after her while still staring after _him_.

"O-Ocha…" His voice cracks miserably and she pulls his face to hers forcefully, her forehead resting against his and steely brown eyes demanding his attention.

"You're gonna get through this. Deep breaths." Uraraka speaks calmly but her tone is unwavering, and he follows her order obediently as she strokes the tears away from his eyes with her thumbs. One of her hands comes to rest over his chest, over his frantic heart that's betraying him in wanting to go back to the hands of the one that broke it. "You're stronger than this."

Izuku's bottom lip quivers and he squeezes his eyes shut, taking in a deep and steadying breath that comes out in stutters. Some more tears, fat and hot, roll down his cheeks. "I want…" He can't finish the sentence, his throat closing up and choking him.

"I know. Look at me," She tugs at his chin. "Izuku, look at me." He forces his eyes open and his gaze to hers. "You're gonna get through this, okay?" Closing his eyes again, Izuku nods stiffly through a hiccupped gasp.

It takes a few minutes for Uraraka to get him to calm down enough to finally be let go without falling apart. She gives him one long and tight hug before dropping their phones and pulling him to the centre of the room. They go through the motions of stretching and warming up together in a comfortable silence. Izuku is thankful, not yet trusting his voice to not break or sound strangled when he speaks. He gets lost in the familiar movements, sitting down on the floor with his legs spread before Uraraka pushes against his back and helps him through the trickier ones. Once he's done, they switch places and by the end of it, he feels like he can once again breathe normally. His chest still feels heavy and if he thinks about it too long he thinks he might start crying again, so he tries not to.

"What are we dancing to, then?" He gets himself to ask as Uraraka gets back to her feet and pulls her leg up behind her by her ankle.

Uraraka looks thoughtful for a moment, switching to the other leg while he does the same. Walking towards her phone, she picks it up and hooks it to the speakers. She scrolls through her playlists with a drawn-out hum until her eyes land on something that seems to peak her interest and she taps the screen, likely leaving the song on repeat as they often do. As soon as the first notes ring around the room, Izuku feels his lips curve downward and sends her a half-hearted glare. He's not sure if she's trying to make a joke or if she's actually serious but either way, he is entirely unamused.

"I know what you're thinking," Uraraka starts, speaking over Dua Lipa's deep and smooth voice. "but this might be therapeutic."

Izuku tilts his head at her, cocking a disbelieving eyebrow. He regrets introducing her to English artists more and more each day, the lyrics ringing loud and clear in his mind, the message behind them not at all going ignored. Bringing a hand to the back of his neck and running it to the front of his head with a sigh, he nods again.

"Fine. What did you have in mind?"

She smiles at him for a second before taking in the tempo and trying out some steps. Once the chorus picks up again after the second verse, it's like a flip switches and she becomes a whole other person. The fierce and sure way of her movements, the elegance and the emotion behind every single one and the intensity as she drops to her knees make Izuku's whole world shake with it. Pausing for a moment, she picks herself back up and walks over to him, taking his hands in hers.

"Something like that. You think we can do this together?"

Managing a tiny smile, Izuku answers her by mimicking her previous movements, stumbling on a couple of the transitions but recovering until the drop. "I think with a little practice…?"

And so, they set to do just that, perfecting the first steps and adding on to the routine until they finally had something solid to actually stick with after shutting off the music to think. Time seems to fly as they move with each other, stopping to correct each other's posture or to suggest he 'do it less stiffly, like this' or she 'watch the landing on that one'. At one point, Yagi-sensei stops by to compliment their work and give a few pointers of his own. They take his advice to heart and immediately adjust their steps to accommodate the suggestions, the man leaving them to it with a smile and a warm 'goodbye'. They don't notice the afternoon getting away from them outside, but they don't care either, losing themselves in their focus until finally, they come to an agreement on everything.

"It's getting late…" Izuku finally acknowledges, looking at his phone to check the time. "One more time and we wrap this up?" He finds himself suggesting, knowing that he wants to actually see the final piece from start to finish at least once before they leave.

Uraraka beams and skips over to the speakers to reset the song and jumps back to his side in a flash. They stare at their shapes in the mirror tapping their feet until the song works its way up to the chorus. They tiptoe across the floor as they move through a series of pirouettes and Izuku's heart beats hard in his chest in time with the music. He reaches out with Uraraka towards the sky while sliding to the side, recoiling into a twisting drop and feeling the weight lift off of his shoulders. They pick themselves up off the floor and Izuku's heart soars as his feet leave the ground a few steps later.

He's flying as they move not because of the routine itself, but because it sets him free of the coiling emotions twisting in his heart. With each twirl of his body and each stretch of his leg, a little less darkness suffocates him. They move in sync with each other, each with their own expressiveness and their own story and Izuku feels lighter as he tells his. They finish their short routine with their own added flavour, Izuku falling backwards onto the ground panting, but with a small smile tugging at his lips. It wasn't much, given their short time, but it was something.

Uraraka was right, it was therapeutic. Though he's sure any other song would've served the same purpose, he appreciates his best friend's attempt at giving him perspective. In the end, he guesses that it worked. It isn't to say that he's completely changed and healed, but he was slowly getting there. _Baby steps_ , Izuku thinks. He missed this freedom, this overflow of feeling…

"Thank you… For making me come back…"

Uraraka lies down next to him, laying her head on his heaving chest and listening to his frantic heart. "You're welcome." Sitting back up she pats the wet spot his sweat has left on his hoodie. "And gross."

Shoving her aside, he gets to his knees with a tiny laugh, helping her up to her feet a few moments later. "Well, have the gross embrace of gratitude." Izuku pulls her into his sweaty arms and she drawls out a long 'ew' but returns the hug all the same. Uraraka pushes away to go get her phone back and he does the same.

Once they finally make it outside, the streets are already starting to buzz with the night life. She hands him the box with the promised red velvet cake and he takes it, already feeling his mouth watering at the possibilities.

"Don't eat it all in one sitting." The look in his eye must have given him away.

"No promises." Izuku retorts, feeling a pang of sadness now that it dawns on him that they're going to part ways.

For a moment he considers asking Uraraka to stay with him again tonight, but the request turns to ash on his tongue. She has a life of her own, Izuku can't expect her to be his crutch for the rest of his life. He needs to get through this himself as well, without her help every step of the way. With a dejected sigh he hopes she doesn't notice too much, he squeezes her hand with one last 'thanks' before they each set on their way home.

The apartment smells clean and looks less like the mess he still feels inside, but it's also empty and lonely. Izuku trudges his way inside, dropping to his seat by the counter and propping his face up on a fist. It's so quiet… Was it like this the days before too? Or is it just because Uraraka filled his little living space with such life that without her it felt even more dead and cold?

His phone vibrates in his pocket and he smiles at it when he sees a text from the girl in question that was just a string of silly emojis and a heart at the end. He types out the actual 'ily2' in response before going back to staring at the cake box. Reaching for a fork without actually getting out of his seat, Izuku opens it and just digs right in. It's delicious but somehow, he doesn't feel his insides melting with delight with each bite as he usually does. A deep scowl takes over his features and he rests his forehead on his crossed arms after pushing the cake away.

Kacchan's dismissal of him starts clawing at Izuku the longer he just sits in the deafening silence of his apartment. Against his better judgement, he picks up his phone and scrolls down to his contact, feeling the overwhelming urge to text him. His thumbs react as if they have a mind of their own, typing out a message asking for forgiveness, begging for it really. It sounds clingy and needy and desperate the more he reads over it but, still, he hovers over 'send'.

With trembling hands and prickling eyes, he drops his phone carefully and drags himself to the bathroom where he showers and puts on some comfortable, clean clothes. He bunches up in his green hoodie, imagining he can still smell Kacchan on it and goes back to staring at the unsent text from the comfort of his couch, shrouded in darkness. He swallows nervously and backs out of the draft, for a second a crazy idea passing through his mind.

Izuku dismisses it right away, throwing the phone to the opposite end of the couch. But his eyes linger on its back. Tentatively, Izuku reaches for it and scrolls down to the 'T' on his contact list. A gulp is loud and harsh against the quiet of the room, but his heart tugs his fingers back to the draft so he ignores its screaming and taps the name, forcing himself to do anything else.

 **[Midoriya Izuku 08:56 pm]**

 _Hey_

 _-delivered-_

Closing his eyes, Izuku brings the phone to rest against his chest, feeling the anxiety crawling icily up his veins. This was a mistake. He shouldn't… He shouldn't have… It's a fake number… This isn't any better than what he was about to do before, he is never going to get a-

The phone vibrates in his hand and Izuku jumps. Shaking, he unlocks the screen.

 **[Todoroki Shouto 3 09:01 pm]**

 _Midoriya?_

There's a large lump in Izuku's throat as he stares at the text, that little heart still glaring back at him offensively. Still, instead of deleting it, he taps out a reply and gets one in return before he even has the chance to back out of the text.

 **[Todoroki Shouto 3 09:04 pm]**

 _Is everything okay?_

Izuku can't help but look around him before gaping at the phone again, holding the too long sleeve of his hoodie over his mouth. He doesn't know how to reply to that, or how he would even know to ask it in the first place. There's another text below as he tries to even think of what to say.

 **[Todoroki Shouto 3 09:05 pm]**

 _It feels like you're upset._

Standing up at the sight, Izuku drops his phone on the cushions and runs to his room where he locks himself for the rest of the night. He doesn't know why he ran from the text, and he certainly doesn't understand why he's curled up under his covers with his heart beating faster than he thinks he's ever felt it. He closes his eyes and sees red and white swimming around in his thoughts until sleep finally takes mercy on him.

 **NOTES: And here is chapter 3!** **I sincerely hope you're enjoying this because, like I said before, I'm just having fun and I'd like you guys to do so as well!**

 **Feel free to leave any feedback you may have and thank you for reading! ^-^**

 **ALSO: If you'd like to see the choreographies for the dances included in the chapters, I'll put the links on my profile!**


	4. Chapter 4

"Doth my eyes deceive me? I can't believe you're like this…" Yaoyorozu's voice startles him to attention and he looks at her from the corner of his eye, still fidgeting with his phone and checking it every few minutes.

"Like what?"

"You're biting your nails." Shouto notices just then that he's been gnawing at his thumb for the past… Well, he doesn't even know how long, he hadn't realised he was doing to begin with. "You never bite your nails, not even before competitions."

Pulling his thumb away from his lips and glaring icily at it, he lets his hand fall to his side as he, for the third time in the past five minutes, checks the time and the fact that his lock screen is still free of notifications. "I am confident about my skills before competitions." Shouto reasons, letting out a huff of a breath that shouldn't sound as much like disappointment as it does. "Perhaps I pried too much? I must have, he's not answering anymore." He mutters more to himself than anything else.

"What are you even talking about?" Yaoyorozu steps closer and looks over his shoulder at the texts he's staring at with such intensity one might think he's trying to will the answer to appear with his gaze alone. "He doesn't sound upset to me, he just said 'hey' and confirmed it's him."

"Yes but…" Shouto frowns deeply, thinking about Midoriya's bubbly presence at the club, he talked and moved freely, a smile always easy to reach his lips. These texts seemed… impersonal, detached, _sad_. He couldn't explain it if he tried. "I just have this feeling."

"You? Having feelings? Oh my, this is more severe than I thought." Yaoyorozu's tone was teasing, but Shouto couldn't help the deadpan look he aimed at her. It only seemed to amuse her further, if the little smirk playing at the edges of her mouth was any indication. "You're overthinking this. He probably just went to sleep or something, it _is_ Monday after all. He might have an early morning job."

Shouto only hums, thoroughly unconvinced but agrees quietly anyway, if only to stop the pleased and _knowing_ looks she had been plaguing him with all throughout the day. He walks over to the loveseat and splays himself on it, face down and near smothering himself in the decorative pillows Yaoyorozu _insisted_ they use up the little space with.

"One of the best ballroom dancers in all of Japan with countless prizes under his belt… I never thought all it would take to unravel the cold and unapproachable Todoroki Shouto was a pretty face and some provocative dance moves." The insufferable woman laughs into a hand, trying not to let out any unattractive snorts even though it's just them in the quiet of their shared apartment.

"Shut up. It's not like that." He quickly shoots the implication down, voice muffled by the fabric that immediately invades his mouth when he opens it. He props himself up, spitting out fibres that got stuck to his tongue. "It's just… I don't know, I liked the way he carries himself."

"Cute and barely dressed?" Shouto picks up the pillow and throws it at Yaoyorozu's face but she reacts fast and punches it right back at him. Unprepared and in an awkward position, it ends up hitting him square on the nose and falling unceremoniously to the floor.

He keeps scowling at her as she dissolves into more laughter, spluttering. "Ha-ha," Shouto says dryly "hilarious."

His phone dings with a notification and he practically dives for it, not even caring about the fact that it probably only makes her feel more justified in her accusations. But that's not it, he's just concerned. His glower only grows more dissatisfied when he stares at some message from his data provider and he throws the phone at the other side of the room, the dull thud sounding as it hits the carpeted floor.

"Not him?" He can hear the snicker in her voice without even looking at her.

"Adverts." Shouto mutters, letting his face fall back onto the couch cushions.

Yaoyorozu passes by him, patting his head as she walks past in a 'there, there' sort of gesture and Shouto groans at the mockery behind it. He could argue that she's got it all wrong all day and night all he wanted but it wouldn't make a difference so he just stays quiet. What was wrong with meeting someone who he admired and wanting to strike up a friendship?

Midoriya had come to the dancefloor with a confidence that could rival his own whenever he performed in front of judges and suffocating crowds. But he had Yaoyorozu with him all those times and the other had stood alone, uncaring and completely free. He wasn't doing it for points or trophies, for praise or glory. He just… _moved_. Shouto respected that kind of courage and love for dance. He wanted to _be like that_. And, as socially inept as Shouto was, Midoriya had kept his eyes on him the whole time. He knew an invitation, _a challenge_ , when he saw it. It would be a flat out lie to say he wasn't intrigued.

They hadn't talked much, admittedly, just small talk over drinks. _'What's your name?' 'What brings you to these parts?' 'You dance professionally?'_ and so on. Some of the answers he'd gotten were decidedly cryptic, and he was willing to bet that had something to do with the alcohol. Poor guy could barely remember his own phone number by the time he had to leave, let alone form coherent responses to somewhat personal questions. In passing, Shouto wonders if Midoriya even remembered half of his answers.

They had preferred to leave their words in turn for some body language instead, anyway. That _had been_ why Shouto and Yaoyorozu had gone out in the first place. After weeks of intense practice for cut-throat competitions, stiff routines and unforgiving tempos, Shouto wanted some freedom of movement. And Midoriya offered him just that. He was freedom incarnate, Shouto thought. As easy to read as the pages on an open book, especially when he danced. He was a story in motion, and who could blame Shouto for being captured by the exciting twists and turns of his prose?

With a sigh, he lifts himself up, noting that Yaoyorozu had already retreated to her own room to rest for the day that awaited them tomorrow. There was never any time for them to just relax. As soon as one tournament was done, they were expected to start practicing for the next. Shouto sometimes feels the urge to just drop everything and leave, pursue his true passions of dancing for himself and not his father. But then he remembers that his dancing is the only thing standing between his mother being cared for and thrown into the streets and all of his rebellion dies like a smothered flame.

With one last, fruitless glance at his phone after he picks it up, Shouto makes his way to his bed, hoping that he hasn't crossed a line with his texts before they even had a chance to get acquainted. Well, it wasn't like he wasn't used to having only Yaoyorozu by his side anyway. Sure, Iida, Ojiro and Hagakure were… Something. But Yaoyorozu had known him for as long as he could remember, they were dancing partners for their entire lives. And Midoriya… He was different for some reason Shouto couldn't quite lay his finger on. There was something… _familiar about him_.

Shouto lays there for the longest time, resisting the urge to keep checking for new notifications because he knows for a fact there's nothing there. He would've heard it if there were any new texts… Trying not to dwell on why it's so hard for him to just fall asleep, as he twists and turns on his bed, Shouto just _knows_ tomorrow will be absolutely _dreadful_.

* * *

"Again!" Shouto sighs heavily, running a hand through his hair to unstick it from his dripping forehead as Yaoyorozu goes to take a sip from her lemon flavoured water.

Todoroki Enji was a busy man. He didn't have time to watch over Shouto's practices, which was why they had an array of coaches ready to report to him if anything seemed even remotely amiss. And because of _that_ , at this very moment, Shouto is being stared down by icy blue eyes, suffering the brunt of his father's disapproving scowl.

This morning he'd showed up not only with bags under his eyes and sluggish movements due to not getting much sleep last night, but stopping to glance at his phone at any given chance. He was acting like a man obsessed, he knows this, but he just couldn't _help it_. Midoriya hadn't said anything else since that last text, and the longer it went on, the worse he felt. He wondered if maybe sending another text apologising could fix things, but then again, he didn't want to keep pushing when that was what drove the other away to begin with. So, he was distracted, he kept messing up the routine, even Yaoyorozu seemed to be getting a little frustrated with him and…

Now his father was here to make it worse. Shouto makes sure to glare daggers at the one who'd called him in. He's not a child anymore, he shouldn't be _monitored_ like this.

"What is it with you today?" Enji crosses his arms over his broad chest, frowning disapprovingly. "You're out of tempo, your form is miserable and you're failing at doing any of the moves correctly. Are you trying to defy me again?"

Shouto, grits his teeth to stop from screaming out in frustration. "Everything just _has_ to be about you, doesn't it?" The words are muttered under his breath but not quietly enough, it seems.

"What was that, boy? You disrespect me one more time…" There's a threat in his tone, despite their setting, everyone around them. But Shouto doesn't cower, he stares back, expression kept at a meticulous neutral as his eyes alone ask 'Or what?'. His father huffs out a breath then barks out another order for them to start over from the beginning.

With one hand on Yaoyorozu's back and another holding onto hers, Shouto tries his hardest to focus, if only to be rid of his father's presence sooner rather than later.

By the time Enji calls for them to just stop wasting his precious time for the day, Shouto is running on fumes. He just slumps into a seat and runs a towel down his face dejectedly, not even having the energy to walk the little distance to get some water. Yaoyorozu is quick to come take the spot beside him, nudging his side to get his attention and giving him a bottle in the process.

"Still nothing?"

Shouto quickly checks his phone only to feel another pang of disappointment and shake his head in response. Yaoyorozu just hums beside him and starts scrolling through her phone herself as they cool off for a while. He starts picking at the label on the bottle, scraping little bits of paper off and letting them fall down to the varnished wood floors. Fleetingly, Shouto thinks that maybe this is for the best… He's never had many friends to begin with and perhaps that was just the way things were meant to be. Yaoyorozu had his back. She was his best friend and he wouldn't trade her for the world…

There's an uncomfortable tightness in his chest at the thought of never seeing Midoriya again but Shouto tries his best to ignore it. He crushes down the hope that maybe he will still get a response eventually, not wanting to hang on to something that was never really there to begin with. As he's thinking of just keeping the memories of that night and the image of Midoriya sputtering and stumbling over his words cutely locked away forever, Yaoyorozu gasps.

"Oh wow…" She mumbles at her phone and Shouto leans over to peek at it.

When she quickly brings it to her chest, concealing whatever's on the screen from his prying eyes, Shouto simply raises a curious snowy eyebrow, wondering if it was something private. But the small smirk she offers him in return has him thinking otherwise.

"What is it?" He somehow _knows_ that it's about him. That look on her face, it usually only happens when she's thinking of teasing him. Which is often.

"I think I just found something you might be interested in." Shouto narrows his eyes at the enigmatic message. "It's going to make your father livid." Now _that_ has perked up his interest.

Once he repeats the previous question, Yaoyorozu rewinds the video she says _a friend_ sent her, and holds up the phone in between them for Shouto to see. The first thing he notices is the channel's name "All Might Dance Studio". Shouto knew that his father had a personal feud with its founder, but like anything that pertained to Enji whatsoever, Shouto avoided that as much as he possibly could. Which isn't to say he wasn't interested, he liked the genres and styles they danced, he'd heard of them, seen their performances once or twice…

But when the dancers finally fade into view on screen, Shouto's eyes widen in recognition. And suddenly that sense of familiarity he felt when he first laid eyes on Midoriya makes sense. There, stepping to the very front of a group comprised of two other girls and two other guys, is Midoriya. He looks focused, ready to face an army if he has to. And when he starts moving, Shouto can't help but think _Beautiful_. Like the night at the club, he can't take his eyes off of him, every step, every roll of his body, every reach of his arms. Every movement is an emotion, every breath a tragic story and Shouto can only watch… Entranced. Even when the other dancers are in the frame all Shouto sees is him, because when he dances, Midoriya _demands_ attention.

Shouto is more than willing to give him all of his.

He can't help but take the phone from Yaoyorozu's hand as soon as the video cuts off to another group, sliding the load bar back to the beginning and watching the short routine again. And again.

"Okay, that's enough." Yaoyorozu laughs, shooting him a sideways glance as she takes the little device and starts for the exit.

"He's part of All Might's company." Shouto's brain finally connects the dots, after being occupied with the image of Midoriya's body reciting the sweetest poem.

"Now isn't _that_ an interesting development?" Yaoyorozu grins, disappearing from view to go to the changing rooms.

Shouto almost has to force himself to follow right after, not sure what he's supposed to do with this newfound information. He can't just show up there, that'd be creepy. If a text had been too much then _that_ was restraining order material. Not that Shouto was thinking about it. Obviously not. But maybe… He could try talking again, this new topic was certain to be of Midoriya's interest. He just had to be _subtle_ about it.

 **[Todoroki Shouto 04:32 pm]**

 _You're part of All Might's Dance Company._

 _-delivered-_

Todoroki Shouto. King of Subtlety. Thinking back, he should've prefaced that with something. Preferably with an apology. But it's too late now. Midoriya wasn't answering anyway, so it's not like he could make it _worse_ … He definitely just made it worse. Should have just stayed quiet and waited for the other to come around (or not).

Shouto is waiting for Yaoyorozu so they can walk back to the apartment, trying not to hit himself at his appalling social skills. Or lack thereof. If Midoriya had any intention of texting him back, now he was likely deleting his number and pretending that they never even met to begin with. He sounded like a stalker. Midoriya hadn't told him where he danced. It probably looked like he'd gone specifically looking for information about him.

But that _isn't_ the case. The company is fairly well known, it's not that weird that he'd know about it. But the way he said it kind of sounds aggressive, doesn't it? It sounds somewhat like a threat, like he's telling him he knows where he spends his time and is not afraid to use that information. Perhaps wording it as a question would have been better than just stating it as the fact it was. Damn texting and its lack of appropriate intonation. Not that Shouto did a much better job while talking to begin with…

His phone flashes him Midoriya's name, interrupting his train of thought and he immediately looks at the reply.

 **[Midoriya Izuku 04:53 pm]**

 _Ye, howd u kno_

Oh wow. That's… Is that a new language? It's completely different from the texts he'd sent the night before, and Shouto only feels more justified in his worries that he wasn't feeling well. This, as horrid and hideous as it is, seems like it fits the personality Midoriya had displayed much better. When Shouto answers that he saw a video of him dancing there, he's surprised to get an almost immediate stream of texts.

 **[Midoriya Izuku 04:56 pm]**

 _Oh god_

 _Wat 1_

 _Y kno wat i dont wana kno_

 _Its less embrsng dat way_

Shouto can't help but smile at that. That and he makes a mental note to look for more videos to find which ones he's so embarrassed about. Either way, he starts to type out a reply, saying that he thought he looked beautiful and stops himself. Maybe that's a little too forward. Deleting the words, he settles for saying that he showed a lot of passion and it was impressive. When he, once again, doesn't get a response for a long time, Shouto frowns slightly. Was that still too much?

Yaoyorozu finally comes outside, her long hair falling down her shoulders still a little damp. She always takes ages to get ready because of her hair. Shouto can't imagine how hard it must be to maintain. Glancing from her back to his phone before shoving it into his pocket he kicks at a pebble on the floor.

"Momo, am I difficult to talk with?" He keeps his eyes and voice down, his hands in the pockets of his jacket and his shoulders hunched slightly.

"Oh yes." Yaoyorozu's reply is a little too quick for his liking and he throws her a dry look. "What? I'm just being honest." She laughs then pats him on the shoulder. "You're not so bad once people get to know you, though."

"Somehow that still sounds like an insult." Shouto points out, going back to staring at his shoes though there's a hint of a smile playing at the corner of his mouth.

"It's not an insult. It's just how you are, it's… Endearing."

"That's… not the word I would use to describe me." He's grinning now, he knows he is, and he's trying to hide it with the hair that's tipping towards his face as he looks down. The banter between them is always something that puts him at ease.

"Hmm, well, it's true. Especially when you're trying so hard to impress him." Yaoyorozu shoots him a sly smile that he can just _hear_ in her voice.

He's not blushing. Todoroki Shouto doesn't _blush_. "I'm not trying to impress anyone." That was defensive, she'll definitely take it to mean the exact opposite.

"Of course not." There's the sarcasm. Shouto sighs. "But if you were… I think you should ask him out."

He looks up at Yaoyorozu with ice in his gaze. "Who are you even talking about?" Instead of replying she just smiles before turning back to the streets in front of them as they walk. "It's not like that." Shouto feels like he's going to have to repeat those words for days to come. And it still won't be enough.

When she repeats the sardonic reply from before, Shouto actually shoves her. She deserves it anyway. They walk the rest of the way focusing on an entirely different topic, much to his relief. He doesn't want to be obsessing over not getting a reply for the next hours another time.

Deciding that they're hungry after all that practice, Yaoyorozu suggests that they stop at a little bakery she's been dying to try for the longest time. She's going on about how people say this place has the best strawberry shortcake and Shouto's only half listening when he feels a vibration on his thigh.

He sits down as Yaoyorozu walks up to the pink cheeked girl behind the counter and checks his phone. Shouto has never been one to overuse electronics but since that night at the club he's been staring at the small screen more often than he thinks he's done his entire life. He gets two new texts before he has the chance to reply to the first

 **[Midoriya Izuku 05:20 pm]**

 _Thx… & sry bout last nite. Im ok, ty 4 asking_

 _I hav work soon_

 _Ttyl?_

Shouto types out a quick 'It's fine. And sure', feeling the small smile pulling a corner of his mouth up the tiniest bit. Yaoyorozu doesn't let him go without mentioning that particular fact as she sits down, setting two pretty looking slices of the cake she was going on about on the table.

"Uraraka-san says they match your hair." Yaoyorozu comments as she points at the cake with her fork.

Shouto blinks at her. "Uraraka-san?" He looks at the girl at the register and she waves at him with a sweet smile. Shouto feels his skin crawl at the sight and doesn't know why, turning back to Yaoyorozu. "Is she your friend?"

"You could say that." Yaoyorozu's lips quirk slightly and Shouto stares suspiciously at his friend.

Although, that is readily forgotten as soon as the treat reaches his lips. It melts in his mouth, strawberry and cream blending together perfectly into something that Shouto might actually call heavenly. Yaoyorozu seems to think along the same lines as him, if the little elated noise she lets out is any indication.

"We need to come here more often." She says, taking another bite and rolling her eyes to the back of her head.

Shouto can't help but agree with that. This is truly delicious… And looking at all the options on the display case, he wonders what they're all like. Especially the green tea cake that is sitting there, just daring him to eat it… He wasn't usually allowed to eat sweets when he was younger, but he'd be damned if he couldn't eat his favourite cake when he wants to, now that he lives away from his father's influence. If it is anything like the shortcake, he is already thinking of changing his workout regimen to allow it.

When they leave with a cheerful "Come again" from the girl, Shouto's already thinking of taking advantage of that invitation, be it her job to say it or not.

They spend the rest of the afternoon relaxing from their frustrating practice, him lounging with a book while Yaoyorozu catches up on her favourite dramas on TV. Just as he's getting ready to get some sleep to make up for the night before, his phone pings with a notification and he feels a little flutter in his chest when he sees Midoriya's name on it.

 **[Midoriya Izuku 10:47 pm]**

 _Sum1 puked on me -.-'_

 _P sure dud was drunk frm the nxt bar over_

Shouto's a little confused by what he's reading, he admits, but he actually laughs at the mental image it provides, sending him a 'Sorry to hear that.' he feels is in part dishonest from the way his shoulders shake in amusement.

 **[Midoriya Izuku 10:49 pm]**

 _O shit._ _I ment to send dat to Ocha_

 _Im so sry u had to read dat_

For a moment, Shouto almost considers continuing to text, but he really needs to get some rest if he wants to do anything decent tomorrow to avoid his father gracing them with his presence again. So, he tells Midoriya he's headed to sleep and wishes him luck with the rest of the night going vomit free. The misspelled 'thank you, sleep well' followed by an equally jumbled 'nice talking to you' makes Shouto's heart stutter slightly and he has to take a deep breath to calm it.

He finally gets in between his sheets and closes his eyes, willing sleep to take him over. But no matter how long he stays still, evening his breaths, he just can't stop thinking of green eyes and a mess of curly hair. He can't stop his mind from filling with the image of a slender but well-built body moving to the flavour of music so tenderly that it could make a grown man cry from the beauty of it. Needless to say, Shouto doesn't sleep that night either.

 **NOTE:** **Let's pretend for a second that there's a way to text that atrociously in Japanese xD**

 **Hope you guys enjoyed that! Thank you for reading and feel free to leave any feedback you may have! Once again, the choreography video mentioned in this chapter can be found on my profile if you're interested!**


	5. Chapter 5

Shouto can't sleep. For the life of him, the more he tries to just _not think_ the more his thoughts are consumed by Midoriya. He tells himself that it's not that strange, apart from Yaoyorozu, he doesn't think he's ever admired anyone this much. And even then, it's for entirely different reasons. Because where Yaoyorozu is ambitious, driven and the picture of perfectionism, Midoriya is, for lack of a better word, the embodiment of passion.

His best friend is passionate as well, no doubt about it, but she's focused on her form and fulfilling the routine with the utmost precision. It's beautiful to watch her dance. Yet Midoriya, for all the amazing technique he possesses, seems to care most about the feeling involved. At least, that's what Shouto gathers from the little he's seen of him dancing. But something that powerful is very hard to miss.

Cracking his eyes open, his lids heavy but apparently not enough for him to sleep, Shouto exhales deeply. He moves to his side and takes his phone from the nightstand where it's charging, pulling up his browser to search for videos. If he's going to stay awake thinking about Midoriya then he might as well do something about it and finally find out what was so embarrassing that he didn't want him to see.

As he scrolls through the same channel Yaoyorozu's video was from, he clicks on any single one where a head of dark mossy curls seems to peek from the thumbnail. And video after video he becomes increasingly mesmerised by Midoriya's movements. He starts at the oldest videos he can find and watches as he evolves, growing into something truly beautiful. His body tells stories that Shouto would love to immerse himself in, wishing he was able to tell them just as enticingly.

And then… He finds something entirely different.

At first it looks like just a bit of fun, from the first second, Midoriya's whole demeanour is playful and cheerful from the pose alone. But just as he starts moving, everything changes. The pointed and sharp manner in which every single step is taken, the way he bites down on his bottom lip as he pops his hips in quick succession, the subtle curve of his spine as he bends down and slides back up… Shouto's eyes are stuck to the screen and he thinks that his heart has gotten a heavy shot of adrenaline from the fast pace it has suddenly adopted.

His face gets unbearably hot when Midoriya runs his hands from his hair down his neck, thrusting in time with the beats and lips slightly parted. And that heat only spreads down to his very core when moments later he twirls and drops down to the ground onto his knees, his body sliding on the floor with his back arched until he rolls his upper body. Shouto feels his breath shudder, his free hand coming to cover his mouth as he stares, _gawks_ at Midoriya _flirting_ through dance. Because that's what this is, there's no other way to describe it. Every single move draws attention to his every asset and Shouto can't help but follow his hands with his eyes, each and every _lecherous_ sway of his hips.

Suddenly his covers seem like too much and it's all Shouto can do to just throw them off of his overheating body, backing out of the video and laying on his back to stare up at the ceiling. His chest is rising and falling rapidly, breaths short and a little ragged as his heartrate goes wild. _This… This is new…_

Shouto tries to level his breathing, a hand over his chest and gripping his shirt tightly as his eyes slide to look at the discarded phone by his pillow. He should really try to get at least a wink of sleep… But as if his hands gain a mind of their own, they're suddenly reaching to go back to that video and he watches it on replay. He doesn't know how long he just lies there, watching it time and time again, and he feels himself getting hotter with each one. At this point he thinks he knows Midoriya's routine by heart, possibly even being able to mirror it down to the second. But he's almost certain he wouldn't be able to elicit the same reaction Midoriya does. He can't express that level of emotion, can't _exude_ temptation like _that_.

Turning on his stomach, Shouto buries his face on his pillow after flipping it over, the cool fabric feeling like a mound of snow on his scalding cheeks. He's about to finally try to get some sleep (even though he's about 99% sure he won't be able to stop thinking about _that_ for as long as he lives) when a thought crosses his mind.

For the millionth time that night, Shouto picks up his phone.

* * *

 **[Todoroki Shouto 01:02 am]**

 _-link-_

 _Is this what you were thinking about when you said it's less embarrassing not to know?_

Izuku is just about done with closing up when he finally checks his phone and sees the text. He'd finally gotten rid of the heart at the end of Todoroki's name, seeing as it kept screaming at him anytime he got a new notification. Curious about what he'd sent, Izuku decides to see what it's about. As soon as he clicks on the link, he immediately regrets it, feeling his blood trying to simultaneously drain from and pool on his cheeks. It's a very confusing physiological reaction to say the least, and it leaves him more than just a little lightheaded.

He can't believe he actually let Ashido upload that. Now that he thinks about it, he doesn't remember giving her permission to do it at all. Sure, he'd let them film the whole thing, they were just having fun with a silly song and some silly moves that he may or may not have been using to get a certain blonde's attention at the time… _Better not think about that right now._ But anyway, it was supposed to be kept between them and them alone. Oh god, this is what he gets for never checking the channel to see what's on there.

It feels like his face is on fire at this point, as it seems his cheeks have decided to hoard the blood instead of getting rid of it. _If he didn't think I was weird before…_ Not that it matters, really… He doesn't care what Todoroki thinks about him… Not really… He only answered that text in the afternoon because Uraraka encouraged him to do it, Todoroki was just trying to be nice, obviously. Izuku owed it to him to at least try to be nice in return. Though he still has no idea how in hell the other had managed to figure out he wasn't doing so well and that freaked him out to no end.

Sure, it was nice to know that someone cared, but first, why did he care? And, again, _how did he know? Is he psychic?!_

That aside, however, there were more pressing issues at hand. What was he supposed to reply with? It's not like he could just pretend he didn't see it if he ever talked again, and honestly, he didn't want to shut Todoroki off again. Izuku _did_ feel bad about doing it. Even if he'd said that it was fine when he finally managed to apologise. Not to mention… Despite the fact that Uraraka had been the one to push him to reply to the texts… No one told him to say they'd talk later. He just did it without thinking. And after it sent, well, there wasn't much he could do about it.

A brilliant idea occurred to him then, and he quickly tapped out a question of what he was doing awake at the time since he'd said he was going to sleep. Avoiding the question with another question, nothing easier than that.

 **[Todoroki Shouto 02:10 am]**

 _I'll take that as a yes, then._

 **[Midoriya Izuku 02:11 am]**

 _I hav no clu wat ur talkin bout_

Denial is the next best thing, Izuku supposes. He starts finishing what he was doing to distract himself. Aizawa had closed up a little early tonight because business was a little slow and he's about done with checking the night's profits while Izuku is finishing up the cleaning. Aizawa is taking mercy on him and doing inventory himself so that he can finally take a shower to get the smell of bile off his skin. He's on his way home when he checks the reply he got just moments after he sent his last text.

 **[Todoroki Shouto 02:13 am]**

 _Honestly, I don't think I've ever seen anything like that. And I couldn't sleep._

 _Can't sleep._

Izuku stares at the text for a moment, mulling it over. He can't exactly make out whether that's a compliment or mockery. But given the nature of the video… Probably the second. Either way, he asks if there's something bothering him and the reply he gets right after (he's _still_ awake) has him stopping in his tracks. He backs out of the text and returns to it several times to make sure it's really there or if he's imagining it.

The words 'You, if I'm honest' look back at him from the small screen, as if laughing at his face, with his mouth hanging open and eyes wide. _Crap, did I offend him somehow?_ Izuku's mind reels, thinking back to every interaction. Was it… because of the blatant staring the day before? He hadn't mentioned it in the previous texts… Maybe he was just being polite… After all, his way of speaking is pretty proper, that's probably just how he is. But then if that was the case, why would he even want to keep talking to him?

Before he can think of how to begin to apologise without making things worse, there's another text.

 **[Todoroki Shouto 02:31 am]**

 _I just realised that might've come across the wrong way. I apologise._

 _I meant that I can't stop thinking about you. You intrigue me._

That's… so forward. Izuku doesn't know what to do with himself then, just keeps walking slowly, careful not to take a wrong turn or bump into anything or anyone. Is he trying to imply something or is what's there just that and nothing more? And what about him _intrigues_ someone? Not knowing what else to do or say, he just asks what he means by that. When he's told that Todoroki thinks he's 'fascinating' he's equal parts confused and embarrassed. Izuku knows that he's blushing again and once more stumped as to what to do next.

This is all such foreign territory. Izuku has never done this before. He didn't have many friends apart from Kacchan when he was younger. And all the others he's made later in life have been through the dance company and college. People he saw and talked to regularly. Not someone he met once and happened to get their number. For some reason. He still hadn't quite figured that one out either.

Plus, it was a little hard to ignore the not so little part of him that found Todoroki ridiculously attractive. That being said, Izuku doesn't want to particularly listen to that part of him. Things are still too fresh, he doesn't want to rush into anything and- _Good god, why am I thinking about this again?_ Todoroki is probably not interested that way. Fascinating and intriguing does _not_ mean romantic interest. Whatever it means. He shouldn't even be entertaining the idea let alone trying to think of how to avoid it.

 **[Midoriya Izuku 02:44 am]**

 _I think u need sleep_

 _U must b out of it to say dat_

 **[Todoroki Shouto 02:45 am]**

 _I think you underestimate yourself. You've got wonderful skills that many people only dream of._

 _But you're not wrong, I should sleep._

 _I suppose I'll try again. It was nice talking to you. Goodnight._

Izuku finds himself smiling at the texts, trying to ignore the light heat of his cheeks at the first part. Todoroki is so formal it's kind of charming. It almost makes him somewhat embarrassed about the atrocious way he writes on his phone. Almost. And besides, the other hasn't complained about it once, so he doesn't dwell on that for long, just typing out a 'sleep well' that's actually correctly spelled for once.

He has a tiny smile dancing on his lips when he reaches his apartment, the emptiness of it not bothering him as much as the day before as he quickly washes himself and gets ready to go to bed. He's so exhausted from getting back to work and having gone to the studio with Uraraka in the morning again since she had an afternoon shift, that as soon as his head hits the pillow, he's already halfway gone to dreamland.

* * *

It's the loud ringtone from a call that jolts him awake, the dreams he was having sliding right off the edge of his consciousness as he frantically searches for his phone. When he sees the caller ID, he blanches, answering it immediately and holding it away from his ear to prepare for the inevitable loudness.

 _"_ _Izuku!"_ The shrill cry from the other end proves true to his expectations, worry and outrage dripping heavily from the words.

"Hi mom…" He smiles sheepishly, even though he knows that she can't actually see it. With everything that's been happening, it completely slipped his mind to call her to say how he was doing as he usually does.

 _"_ _You haven't said anything in almost a week! I was worried sick but I didn't want to seem like a mother hen! You were always telling me not to worry so much but how can I not? Izuku, you're living all alone! I know you have Katsuki but…"_ She trails off with an ill-disguised sob and Izuku feels a painful pang in his chest from hearing the name alone.

"Actually…" He starts, feeling his own throat closing up. Like mother like son, huh? "About that…"

His words sound choked now, he knows they do, knows that he should be trying to mask his pain better so his mother didn't worry even more. But it's not like he can just flip a switch and stop _feeling_.

"Kacchan and I broke up…" Izuku manages to finally get the words out but they're immediately followed by a hiccup that he quickly covers his mouth to muffle.

 _"_ _Oh Izuku, what happened?"_ His mother's voice softens, but he can hear the sadness behind it. Izuku can almost see the tears rolling down her cheeks and it only makes it hurt so much more.

"I uh… I'm the one who ended it…" He breaks off at the end to take in a gasping breath rubbing at his wet cheeks now that he's actually started crying too. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you… I didn't want to make you worry more for no reason…"

 _"_ _No reason? Izuku, sweetie, you're obviously in pain. Why did you break up? I thought things were fine between you two…"_

Izuku feels guiltier now that he hears his mother say that. He only ever mentioned the good times he had with Kacchan, all the bad he kept hidden away because it didn't seem that important, just bumps in the road, everyone had those. It took Uraraka finally making him see how unhealthy their relationship actually was to realise that those weren't just little hiccups. They were gaping holes filled to the brim with toxicity that only poisoned everything else.

"They weren't as fine as I let on… I'm sorry mom… I didn't think things would get so bad…" He covers his mouth once more as he gasps, trying not to completely break down on the phone with his already concerned mother.

 _"_ _Izukkun, do you need me to come over?"_ She's so kind… Izuku shakes his head until he realises again that she can't see it and has to force himself to speak.

"It's okay… I've got Ocha to help me and you're working… You don't have to come all the way over here just for me, I'm fine, promise." His reassurance probably doesn't sound very convincing when he's sobbing in between every couple of words.

 _"_ _Are you sure? I can take a few days off, it's no problem. And I know how hard this must be for you; you two were so close…"_ She trails off with a few sniffles and Izuku's heart squeezes tightly.

"I'm fine… I even met someone new recently…" Izuku finds himself mentioning Todoroki not exactly knowing why. He especially regrets it when he hears the next words out of his mother's mouth.

 _"_ _Is that wise? You don't want to rush into something when you're still hurting from the last."_

"Ah, it's not… It's not like that…" Izuku rubs his face into his shirt, taking in a deep breath to calm himself. "I did meet him at a club, but Todoroki-san is just really nice. We've been texting but that's about it. A-anyway… I'm fine, really. You don't have to worry. I'll make sure to call more."

 _"_ _If you're sure… But I could still come by on the weekend, cook you a nice meal and-"_ Izuku cuts her off with a tiny laugh that feels a little hollow but he hopes she doesn't notice that.

"Mom, it's fine. You don't have to do that. I'll come visit as soon as I can."

 _"_ _You always say that, Izukkun. I haven't seen you in months."_ He lets out a wet little laugh, wiping his face on his sleeve again as he apologises. _"Just make sure you take care of yourself, okay? Eat well, get fresh air, exercise, and don't forget to have some fun too."_

"Yes, mom…" A small smile plays at the corners of his lips and he's about to start saying goodbye and actually leave the bed now that he's awake, when his mother continues.

 _"_ _And if you do get with someone new, make sure they treat you the way you deserve and they care for you."_ Izuku's a little taken aback when Todoroki's face immediately pops into his thoughts and he shakes it away, running a hand through his hair.

"Thank you for worrying, but it's okay I don't…" Todoroki's half smile teases him from the edge of his mind. "I'm not going to…" Izuku feels his stomach twist at the memory of Todoroki's concerned text. "…rush into anything. I still need to heal."

 _"_ _Okay… I love you."_

"I love you too, mom."

Bidding her goodbye, Izuku finally hangs up with a sigh, rubbing at his eyes to get the sleep and soreness of unshed tears away. He falls with his back to the mattress, a tiny groan at his lips as he turns on his side and curls in on himself a little. Izuku is torn between feeling miserable about Kacchan all over again and nervous about his constant thoughts of Todoroki. What results in the end, is a mishmash of depressed anxiety that just makes him want to stay in bed all day until he _really_ has to move.

But that would be taking three steps backwards after finally taking two forwards and it's not actually what he wants to be doing. He should get out of bed and get ready to start off the day, send Uraraka a text to see if she's up for another morning at the studio today. That is, however, easier said than done and he ends up spending a good half an hour just lying there, staring off into space without actually seeing anything, occasionally shaken by a few broken breaths.

Finally, he manages to lift himself up, his body seemingly weighing more than the world itself, and nearly drags himself out of bed and to the bathroom. When he looks in the mirror, Izuku can't help but grimace at his sorry state. His hair is in complete disarray, but that's nothing new. It's the way his eyes have this dull sheen to them that, coupled with the dark circles under them, makes it look like he either hasn't slept in a week or he's been crying for about the same amount of time. Seems accurate. Izuku rubs at his face, scowling anew, before trying to slap some colour into his cheeks to maybe look less like death.

Once he's done with his morning routine, feeling a little better about himself now that he's at least up and about, he reaches for his phone to text his best friend when he notices the little light at the corner blinking. He unlocks his phone to see three new texts from Todoroki, one of which had been sent before he even woke up but he hadn't seen in his haste to answer his mother's call.

 **[Todoroki Shouto 07:04 am]**

 _I'd say good morning, but I'm actually half asleep right now._

 **[Todoroki Shouto 09:49 am]**

 _Save me._

 _It's your fault I'm like this and everyone is getting frustrated with me. Including myself. I'd say it's only fair that you fix it._

Izuku just blinks at the words on the screen as if they'd tell him anything else if he stared just a little longer. Breaking down the texts to actually make sense of them, he comes to the conclusion that Todoroki didn't actually manage to fall asleep when he said he'd try again. And, as it seemed, it was Izuku's fault. He _did_ say that the reason he couldn't sleep was because he couldn't stop thinking about him. Izuku flushes at the memory, thinking that Todoroki seems to be very blunt. How can he just say things like _that_ without restraint? It's equal parts unnerving (not particularly in a bad way) and admirable.

 **[Midoriya Izuku 10:01 am]**

 _Im not sur how i cud help_

 _Im sry?_ 😐

 _-delivered-_

He doesn't know if the emoji is a little too much but only thinks about it after he's already clicked send and there goes that opportunity to reel himself in.

Uraraka ends up texting him herself as well, not so much asking what he wanted to do as it was more demanding he drag his ass out the door because she was waiting outside his apartment. Izuku rolls his eyes fondly, if that's even possible, but grabs his things on the way out anyway. She's waiting with her back turned to the building and Izuku wraps his arms around her waist, picking her up off the floor as he squeezes her tightly and draws a small shriek out of her.

"Deku-kun, everything okay?" She asks on the tail end of a giggle as he lets her down, probably picking up on his slightly sour mood from reopening wounds when his mother inadvertently prodded at them. She didn't even have to listen to him talk to know when something wasn't quite right. He doesn't exactly know if it's because he's just that easy to read or if it's her that just knows him that well.

Izuku hums affirmatively, a little muted and thoroughly unconvincing. "Just talked to my mom." The understanding 'ah' and sympathetic smile is all he needs, but the gentle tug of her fingers interlacing with his is also very welcome, sending a little warmth straight into his chest. They start walking side by side, a little swing of their joined hands as they do. There's a comfortable silence between them until…

"Anything else bothering you?" Izuku sighs. _Maybe she could be a little_ _ **less**_ _perceptive…_

"Not really…" The incredulous raised eyebrow he spies out of the corner of his eye has him huffing in mild annoyance. "Apparently I kept Todoroki-san up all night?" As soon as the words are out of his mouth he realises how _bad_ that actually sounds and starts stumbling over his words to say 'not like THAT' when she snickers at him. His cheeks are tinged a pretty deep red when he takes his hand out of Uraraka's to cover his face with both of them. "He said that he couldn't sleep because he couldn't stop thinking about me."

And now that he says it out loud, that doesn't actually sound much better. "Oh, getting that serious already, huh?"

"Stop it." Izuku whines at her teasing tone, wanting nothing more than for the ground to just swallow him whole right about now. "He's just very straight forward, I don't even think he means anything by it."

"I don't know, Deku-kun, 'can't stop thinking about you to the point that it makes me lose sleep' sounds like _something_ to me."

Crossing his arms over his chest, Izuku looks down at his feet while begging any deity out there to just crush his embarrassment to dust. "Well whatever that _something_ is, it's not what you think."

"I think it's exactly what I think." Uraraka shoots right back at him and just as he's about to retort with a very mature 'is not' his phone interrupts him with a notification.

His eyes widen, knowing exactly what's about to happen but not processing the information fast enough to do anything about it. Uraraka snipes his phone right out of his pocket before he can even think to stop her and dread washes over him at the near devilish grin she dons as soon as she sees what it's about.

"Looks like you have a date."

"Huh?"

Uraraka flips the phone over, flashing him the screen and his heart skips a beat (or two) in his chest as he reads it over.

 **[Todoroki Shouto 10:37 am]**

 _Since I couldn't sleep because of you, I think you owe me coffee. That seems logical to me, what do you say?_

Izuku swallows around the lump in his throat. It's not like he has an aversion to the idea of seeing Todoroki in person. It's just coffee anyway… And besides, if that really is the case, it actually kind of, sort of, makes sense that he'd buy him coffee for his troubles… Sure… It's only logical…

He looks at Uraraka, feeling like a deer caught in headlights and no doubt looking like one too. She just smiles encouragingly and, without thinking, Izuku takes the phone and replies asking when Todoroki's free.

There's no possible way this can go badly, right?

 **NOTE:** **I struggled a little with the end of this chapter, had something and completely rewrote it and now I'm SO MUCH HAPPIER with how it turned out!**

 **I hope you guys enjoyed it as well, from now on I'll try to update at least once a week, and I'm trying to keep one chapter ahead for when uni gets busier once it starts up again!**  
 **Anyhoo, thank you so much for reading and feel free to leave any feedback you may have! (link to the choreography in this chapter on my profile)**

 **Also I figured I'd leave this here, if you wanna talk to me over on tumblr I'm crzangel there ^-^**


	6. Chapter 6

**NOTE:** **Hi there! Life has been a bit unkind to me and I am REALLY SICK right now... Luckily I had this chapter done in advance and it's even a little longer than usual so I guess that works out! BUT I want to write next week's (and others to be ahead of school that starts monday) though I don't think in this condition I'm going to be able to...**

 **It really sucks to already have to cut back on posting once a week and I hope I don't have to but if you don't get another chapter by friday next week you'll know why!**  
 **ALSO please excuse any typos, I didn't have the mental capacity to proofread like usual so if you see something really glaring please let me know!**  
 **Okay, now, on with the story!**

"Momo…" The aforementioned girl just hums at him in response, the lilting lift of a question at the end of the little noise, that along with the devious little glint in her eye has his blood running cold. "What did you do?"

She had asked to use his phone to check something when they stopped for some water because she'd left her own in the changing rooms today in order to avoid distractions. In hindsight, Shouto should have done the same, especially with how little sleep he'd gotten the night before once again, but every time he thought about maybe getting a text his stomach did something _weird_. So, he just kept it on a corner of the room on silent and he'd occasionally check it between short breaks.

"Well… I hope you don't mind but…" She trails off with a nonchalant little shrug and Shouto can _feel_ himself paling even more than usual.

"But what, Momo?" His voice sounds like it is somewhere between steely and scratchy and he barely recognises it when it comes out of him.

"You were saying that he had to fix it, so I just told him how. I think I did a pretty good job of impersonating you, I've known you basically my whole life after all."

"You did _what_?" Snatching the phone right out of her hands he looks at it just in time to see Midoriya replying and nearly drops it to the ground. "Why is he asking me when I'm free? Momo, why did you ask him out for coffee for me? What on earth told you that this was even remotely a good idea?"

Yaoyorozu's dismissive shrug serves only to spark both his irritation and panic. He stares back at the texts for a second time only to realise that, quite honestly, he was almost implying it himself in his previous ones. Sleep deprivation really isn't good for him alongside a whole night of shamelessly staring at Midoriya dancing.

"Let's review the facts, shall we?" She stands up, counting on her fingers as she pointedly ignores the stares of someone who really wants them to get back to practice. "You can hardly sleep thinking about him, you're driving nearly everyone insane because of it and were already pretty much asking him to help you out. Coffee is a solution to at least one of your problems, this way you get to see him again and it can go one of two ways." Shouto raises his gaze from her fingers to her sly smirk. "You either satisfy your hearts' desire and finally get some sleep, or it makes it a lot worse from how bad you've got it."

"It's not like that." He repeats for the twelfth time since this started. Yes, he's been keeping count. And yes, every single time, he gets that sarcastic 'Of course not' in response that's honestly starting to get a little on his nerves.

"Are you going to answer it or not? We need to get back to practice if we want to get this right any time this month. Or year."

Sighing heavily, Shouto swallows his pride and resigns to sending Midoriya the time they usually get off.

If he wasn't a mess before then… Well, Shouto doesn't think he's been _this_ bad ever since his mother got admitted to the mental hospital after her breakdown and his 'accident'. And that's really saying something, because he's somehow doing worse. He could hardly move then, even after recovering from his injury he was stuck in a mental loop of feeling like the whole world was crashing around him and trying not to feel anything at all. His way of dealing with it was to ultimately shut everything off and focus on nothing but his father's lessons, as much as he hated them. It was still better than dealing with the unbearable guilt he felt.

But eventually Yaoyorozu had come into his life to become his dance partner. He wasn't too keen on it at first, seeing as she was hand-picked by his father and he wanted nothing to do with her because of it. Yet, she never gave up on him, kept pushing against his walls until she broke through and became his first real friend. She helped him through his hardest struggles and managed to make him break out of his self-constructed shell and actually start functioning more like a human than an emotionless robot.

And though he still had a long way to go, Shouto was starting to wonder if it wasn't better to just not have feelings. Because right now, all of his were confusing and utterly distracting. Instead of thinking where he had to be stepping, which way he had to turn or how to lead Yaoyorozu, he is focusing on the cold sensation at the pit of his stomach. Shouto steps on Yaoyorozu's toes while trying to ignore the itch he feels to check if Midoriya had responded. Staring off to the corner of the room where his phone sits rather than watching what he is doing he nearly drops his partner to the floor while dipping her.

"Shouto!" He curses under his breath, pulling her up immediately before he actually lets go. He stares at her with the mildest hint of panic and she just rolls her eyes at him, patting him on the shoulder. "Let's take a lunch break."

He welcomes the out and takes it like a starved man might take a loaf of bread, making a point of ignoring the sly looks as he _calmly_ makes his way to his phone and sits down to look at it. Shouto shapes his expression into a meticulously calculated neutral that not even Yaoyorozu is able to read. He's worked hard on it for that particular purpose.

Although, as soon as he sees that Midoriya's answered with an astoundingly barely intelligible 'sounds perfect, where to?', his heart goes into overdrive. It's all he can do to keep his face from showing it, just suggesting some coffee shop he knows isn't too far from All Might Dance Studio in order to make sure Midoriya can easily find it. The reply is almost instant, this time followed by a couple of smiling emojis and Shouto feels heat rising to his cheeks from the image of Midoriya's own smile popping into his head.

Sadly, he's not quick enough to look down at his shoes and definitely doesn't miss Yaoyorozu's snort. That is most likely going to earn him a lot more teasing than he's already been enduring for the past couple of days.

Even after knowing that Midoriya has accepted his (well, technically Yaoyorozu's) invitation for coffee, it doesn't ease his mind in the slightest. If anything, Shouto thinks that it actually made things slightly worse. Because now, all he can think about is _that_. He's going to see Midoriya again in a couple of hours, and it feels like his insides are doing backflips left and right. His chest is swarmed with infinite butterflies as his heart flutters uneasily each and every time he thinks about his bright green eyes and brilliantly blinding smile.

Did he ever feel this way about meeting Yaoyorozu outside of practice when they first started strengthening their relationship? He honestly doesn't remember feeling this way in his entire life, like his whole body is going haywire with all these strange reactions. In fact, he is almost entirely certain that this is a first for him when it comes to these feelings. But that's not so strange, though, is it? After all, Midoriya _is_ entirely different from everyone he has interacted with all of his life, it's only natural that his reactions are also equally distinct.

On top of all that, as if it wasn't enough, it seems like time has simply slowed down to a stop. Practices, as arduous and fatiguing as they usually were, tended to pass by in a blur. However, that was likely due to Shouto's unwavering focus, motions blending together into one seamless routine that they repeated time and time again until they had it committed to memory. Since now Shouto is instead unbearably _distracted_ , no matter how long they dance, each time he glances at the clock hanging high on one of the walls, only a few minutes have passed. And this keeps going. And going. And going.

It goes on until it feels like he's fit to burst into a frustrated growl and just snatch the clock out of the wall to chuck it to the floor and stomp it into dust. It's a very uncharacteristic urge that Shouto is entirely unfamiliar with. Yet, that particular fact makes it no less appealing. Especially when his very skin feels like it's burning with an itch that he doesn't know how to scratch. Without realising it, he's squeezing Yaoyorozu's hand just a little bit too tight and the muted little 'ow' is the only thing that brings him back to reality long enough to let up his grip.

Shouto mutters an apology, only to go right back to being distracted by the slow passage of time. Clearly, the end of their practice simply does _not_ come fast enough.

Things take a turn for the worst when they're interrupted by his father's arrival once more. Despite everything, Shouto is undeniably shocked to see him twice in just as many days, thinking that he'd managed to _somewhat_ get a hold of himself after lunch.

"Shouto." He lets go of Yaoyorozu, backing away and bracing himself for whatever scolding his father is thinking of giving him, expression neutral but firm. "You two will have a second set to practice from today forward."

Shouto blinks in surprise, working them like dogs is not necessarily anything new, but usually when they're not 'up to par' all he does is increase practice hours on the same routine to ensure that everything is perfect down to the finest detail of their movements. Giving them another one to divide their attention is something that never happens. Before either of them can begin to think of asking why and what for, Enji is once again talking.

"There will be an event in three months' time to showcase the talent present in my company. You are obviously my greatest asset, so I expect nothing less than absolute excellence and precision," he pauses to scowl at him from his place above Shouto "not this sorry excuse for _dancing_." The last part is spat with the deadliest of venoms and the frustration that's been building within Shouto nearly makes him snap.

The only thing that stops him is Yaoyorozu's hand wrapping around his wrist to stop him as she steps forward with her arms crossed over her chest. "And this new routine, what is it supposed to be?"

Enji turns his gaze towards her, giving nothing away but for the demand of obedience. Shouto is overwhelmed by the need to straighten himself up in defiance, exuding a confidence he doesn't necessarily feel and raising his chin to stare him down by Yaoyorozu's side.

"I will entrust that decision to you. I assume you have some semblance of skill in that puny form of yours. You are expected to begin working on it tomorrow, while still practicing for the next competition. Do not disappoint me." Before he makes to leave from whence he came, his father glares back at him, likely noticing the way his posture just screams his affront. "Or your mother."

That is enough to immediately make Shouto shrink down to something akin to a kicked puppy and he curses himself with his thoughts, clenching his jaw and biting back the retort that hung on the tip of his tongue. His father disappears from sight as they're told to get back to work and Shouto has to take a moment to breathe.

After that, the waiting becomes even more unbearable. The anticipation is replaced by a sickening feeling that he tries his best to swallow down. He can only hope that meeting with Midoriya will help ease his mind.

* * *

Shouto's mood only seems to have soured further the longer their practice went on. By the time he was finally free and ready to leave with little more than a 'See you later' to Yaoyorozu, he's practically seething with the events of that day playing through his mind. But he was waiting outside the coffee shop now, expecting Midoriya at any moment, and his anger would have to wait.

To be quite honest, Shouto hadn't expected more waiting. If anything, he had an apology ready for making the other wait, given that he'd taken a little longer than expected on his commute to the place. However, when he had finally arrived and looked inside the little shop in the corner of the street, Midoriya was nowhere to be found.

He sent a quick text to let him know he was there, and then waited. That was more tortuous than Shouto could have imagined. Any little noise happening on the streets around him, which at this time of day allows for a cacophony of sound at every other second, has his head snapping up to look for a mess of wild and dark curls. When he sees nothing of the sort, he simply goes back to scrolling through his phone, noting with a hint of ever growing anxiety that he hasn't got a single reply. He isn't even sure if he saw the text to begin with, only that it was delivered as soon as he sent it which meant that his phone hadn't died either.

Foolishly, Shouto wonders if something happened to Midoriya, refusing to consider the much more likely option that he has been, quite simply, stood up. The fleeting thought that his father may have something to do with it is instantly shot down, seeing as he has no knowledge of the other, and therefore no interest whatsoever in getting rid of him. At least not yet. But with the blatant threat to his mother's wellbeing earlier that day, his insides are riling up with unease and he can't help but suspect something awful, no matter how stupid and unlikely that may be.

A familiar voice going through a series of "Sorry, coming through, excuse me" has Shouto glancing up from his phone, spotting Midoriya's frazzled form as he wades through the crowd at a worryingly fast pace. Almost instantaneously, Shouto feels the corners of his lips tug slightly upwards, his heart skipping a beat when Midoriya's eyes widen in recognition upon laying them on him.

He rushes towards him, barely getting himself to a safe halt before crashing into the wall by his side and leaning down with his hands on his knees, breathless. Shouto tilts his head curiously, not missing the way it seems like just the sight of Midoriya is enough to make all of his negative emotions dissipate into meaningless worries.

"I'm so sorry…" Midoriya pants, lifting his head to look up at him with a crooked little apologetic smile. Shouto is a bit taken aback when suddenly the other is talking a mile a minute with barely a breath in between. "I didn't mean to make you wait, I had lunch with Ocha and that in itself stretched on a little longer than intended, then I took her to work and I just lost track of time talking to her and when I noticed how late it already was I just bolted out the door.

"I should have at least said I was going to be a little late but I was so caught up with getting here that I didn't even think to check my phone," with that part he looks at his phone in his hand to see the light blinking with a notification then stares back at Shouto.

"shit. You texted me. I probably made you think I was ignoring you, didn't I? Damn it, I'm so sorry, you thought I was standing you up and I'm like what? Half an hour late? I'm actually surprised you're still here, I wouldn't have blamed you for leaving after something like that, and after making you lose sleep too.

"I feel like I should apologise for that as well, even though I'm still a little confused as to how someone like _me_ could possibly keep someone like _you_ -"

"Midoriya…" As awfully amusing as Shouto might find his ranting, he feels like he should probably stop him at some point before he goes on another tangent. Midoriya's endless speech comes to a grinding halt as lets out a questioning little yelp, realising that he had started rambling. "It's fine, don't worry. It's nice to see you again." _Outside of a phone screen_ , his mind supplies right after.

As unexpected as they may be, his thoughts do have a point. Midoriya's surprised blinks followed by a light pink blush painting under his freckles are something that those videos can never hope to recreate in such detail, no matter how high the quality. He looks away momentarily, only to return his gaze to Shouto and avoid it again.

"Y-yeah. You too…" He fidgets with the hem of his sleeveless hoodie and Shouto has to fight against his lips to stop the little smile playing at them from stretching further. Midoriya points his head towards the door to the coffee shop. "Shall we go in? I still owe you that coffee."

Nodding with a hum of agreement, he holds the door open for the other to duck his head inside, still inspecting his shoes as if they're telling him the most interesting story and it would be rude to look away. Following right after, they make their way towards the line, standing side by side.

Shouto notes that Midoriya's demeanour right now and from the night at the club differ in one particular fact that makes their interactions entirely different, though not at all in a bad way. Midoriya, as it turns out, is extremely shy. At least when he's sober. Shouto smiles to himself, unable to continue resisting the urge, and shoves his hands into his pockets with a little sigh.

"You don't have to look so scared, you know? I don't bite."

Midoriya's head shoots up to look at him, his blush burning a little brighter and his eyes growing a little wider.

"S-sorry, I just…"

His voice trails off, a little small and very timid and Shouto feels himself relax, strangely enough. It feels reassuring to know that he's not the only one who's feeling the anxiety of interacting with someone that's still so new claw at his insides. When they get to front of the line, the redhead behind the register grins so widely that Shouto thinks it might hurt.

"Deku! Hey, what's this, you on a date?" Shouto furrows his brow at the interaction, wondering who he's talking to when he notices Midoriya sputtering.

"What? That's not-" Midoriya cuts himself off by clearing his throat and looking away. "Kirishima! You're working today? I could've sworn it was your day off…"

"It was, but someone called in sick and I figured I could come in and lend a hand. For cash, obviously. So, what'll it be?" The guy, who Shouto can only assume to be Kirishima, is quick to get on with their order, no doubt getting angry looks from those behind them who might be in a hurry.

"I'll have a latte macchiato please, and… Uh…"

Midoriya turns to him with a question in his eyes. Shouto doesn't even look at the options, no matter what he might want, he needs something strong. "Just a black coffee, if that's alright."

The grimace that Midoriya sends him coupled with the 'How manly' comment from Kirishima almost makes Shouto laugh. He simply shrugs, leaving the reason for his choice unvoiced. Before Midoriya can reach into his pocket to get his wallet, Shouto's already handing the money to the redhead flashing him a very toothy smirk followed by a wink. He's a little confused at that, but Midoriya's darkening flush is a nice result that he definitely won't be complaining about.

"I thought I was buying _you_ coffee."

"You can get the next one." The words are out of his mouth before he can actually think of what he's saying, yet he manages to keep a straight face after he hears himself uttering them.

"And that's what I call sealing the deal." Kirishima grins at them and Midoriya looks as if he's suddenly turned into a tomato while glaring at the other.

Shouto chooses to ignore the comment altogether while he stands to the side as they wait for their coffee to be done. He turns to Midoriya, who's still blushing fiercely and trying his best to hide it.

"Deku?" He questions, the name not sounding at all friendly for some reason, despite the way Kirishima had said it not being malicious in the least.

"Ah that's… A long story. Let's just say it sounds like 'you can do it' and leave it at that."

Not wanting to pry and risk scaring Midoriya off again, Shouto nods wordlessly, scanning the place for a table they can sit at to enjoy their drinks. Well, for Midoriya to enjoy his drink. He hates black coffee, but he hopes the shot of caffeine can do him some good to fight off the urge to let his eyelids droop closed. Shouto supposes that Midoriya's presence also helps in that department, given that he doesn't want to miss a single moment of this outing.

Once they get their drinks, they move to a table that's just freeing up and sit across from each other. Midoriya is playing with the cup in his hands, drawing patterns over the surface with the tips of his fingers in a way that Shouto notices is very reminiscent of his dancing. Perhaps he's thinking of something to work with at a later time, or going over moves from a previous arrangement he might have been practicing. Things are quiet for a moment as each of them takes their respective drinks to their lips, Midoriya closing his eyes in delight as Shouto tries not to choke on the awful taste.

They both look at each other and Midoriya looks like he wants to say something but isn't entirely sure how. To be frank, Shouto must have about the same sort of expression, small talk was one of the many things he had never truly grasped the concept of. Luckily for him, his company seemed to be a little more well versed and, after getting over whatever mental block was keeping him from speaking, asks him about his day.

Shouto tries not to frown too deeply but isn't sure if he's successful in that regard. "Tiring. My old man is a constant pain in my neck, but I'll live. Yours?"

Midoriya hums with a small nod, scratching at his cheek with a little awkward smile. "I'm sorry to hear. Mostly uneventful, some highs and lows, the usual…"

His voice trails off and the conversation is once again stunted. Shouto doesn't exactly know how to steer it towards something that might make them more at ease with each other. But as he opens his mouth slightly to say anything that might come to mind, he's interrupted by Midoriya's phone. He excuses himself to look at it, saying he was told was urgent as he sips from his latte.

Then, without warning, the other chokes on said drink, setting it on the table to cough into his hand. Shouto immediately gets up and goes to his side, giving him little but strong pats on the back to help him. However, that only seems to make the choking worse and Shouto backs off with his brows furrowing in concern.

It only gets worse when Midoriya looks at his phone again, then at him as if he's grown a second head, only to look back at the screen and up at him once more with an even more shocked expression. Shouto uncomfortably shifts in his spot, trying to stop his hand from covering up the left side of his face. It's such an instinctive reaction that his arm is already halfway there before he forces it back down, telling himself that Midoriya isn't staring at him because of that.

Even still, he feels the need to ask what's wrong just to be sure. Finally recovering from his drink deciding to take a detour to his lungs, Midoriya whisper-shouts the answer at him.

"You didn't tell me you're a freaking world champion!"

Blinking stupidly at the other for a few seconds, Shouto raises an eyebrow as he calmly sits back down. _That's what this is?_

"I didn't think it was important."

"Not important…" Midoriya mutters, letting out a little incredulous laugh, slumping down further into his seat and looking at his phone once more then at Shouto's face as if to confirm that it was the truth. "So, you really won the world championship for Tango and Waltz last year?" Shouto nods, taking a sip from his own coffee and doing his best not to scowl at the bitterness once more. "Wow…"

Midoriya's expression takes on an awed look to it, his eyes shining slightly with something that Shouto can only peg as admiration and he feels himself shrink under that gaze. "It's really nothing important…"

"What do you mean? You're amazing! You're so young and you have such an awesome achievement already? Some people can only _dream_ of something like that, and here you are, acting like it's no big deal! You must be so humble… If it were Kacchan-" As soon as that last part leaves his lips, Midoriya quickly covers his mouth, eyes wide in shock before his whole face falls and he diverts his gaze somewhere else.

"Your mother?" Shouto asks, confused, and the only response he gets is a short bitter laugh and a 'god, no'. Midoriya looks like he's about to cry, the shift in his mood so sudden it almost gives Shouto whiplash, and he leans forward with worry painting his features. "Are you okay?"

Midoriya nods stiffly and Shouto doesn't believe it for a second but is at a complete loss to what to do. He was never good at comforting people on a good day, let alone sleep deprived and frustrated at his own life. Out of nowhere, one of Midoriya's answers to his questions back at the club comes to the forefront of his mind.

 _"_ _What brings you here?"_

 _"_ _Drowning my sorrows, pretty much." He said before taking the shot of vodka in front of him and shooting him a lazy smile. "And you?"_

Swallowing around the lump in his throat, Shouto rubs at the back of his neck, his eyes never leaving Midoriya's hunching figure. With a deep breath and another gulp of disgustingly bitter coffee, he scoots his chair closer to the table and, consequently, Midoriya.

"If you ask me, your dancing is much worthier of such a prize than mine." With painfully gleaming eyes, Midoriya turns to look back at him. Shouto may not know what's going on in his life to make him so upset so quickly, but he can sure as hell try to get his mind off of it. "All I do is memorise routines and recreate them with calculated precision. You live your sets with such passion that I can't help but look at you and want to be like that."

Midoriya blinks away a few stray tears that sneak out of the corners of his jade eyes and Shouto's heart squeezes in his chest as he (not so) discreetly wipes them away with the back of his hand.

"You don't have to say that just to…" His voice sounds as strangled as he looks.

"I'm simply stating the truth. It reminds me of my mother's dancing. Before I was born, she did professional ballet, and she was beautiful. Her body told such wonderful stories with the way she moved to the dips and rises of the music. When I look at you I see that same love for dance. I wish I could be like that."

Midoriya's eyes still look like they're filling with tears, but his cheeks have gained a little more colour and when he looks away it seems like he's once again closer to shy than he is to anguished. Shouto counts that as somewhat of a win, even if it still looks like he's about to break down into sobs.

"T-thank you… That's… really nice of you to say. Especially when you're clearly so amazing yourself." Midoriya sniffles a little, but seems to mostly manage to compose himself and it is now Shouto's turn to look away in embarrassment.

"I really wouldn't say that. I just did what I had to." Perhaps that was a little too honest, but vague enough that he doesn't feel like he's emptying his heavy emotional baggage on the other.

"Well, I think you must be great. I'd love to see you dance too." Midoriya offers him a small smile and Shouto returns it with one of his own. "Maybe you could even come to our studio. My friends would _love_ to meet someone like you. Just ask Kirishima."

Shouto gazes at the redhead in question and is met with a bright grin and a quick wave, turning back to Midoriya right away. There's something about the hopeful glint in his eyes that makes Shouto's brain short-circuit and he doesn't consider the consequences of what spews out of his mouth.

"Sure. That sounds great." Midoriya beams at him, once more wiping at the corners of his eyes but looking a lot lighter already, and Shouto feels a warmth in his chest he seems to become more acquainted with as the days go by.

Now all he has to do is to figure out how the hell he's supposed to find the time to actually do that in between practicing for two routines, one of which he and Yaoyorozu still have to come up with.

Nothing could go wrong.

 **NOTE:** **And that was that! Coffee date has gone by with only a minor hiccup so- who knows what might be next!**

 **Hope you enjoyed, again, let me know if you saw any glaring mistakes that I couldn't proofread to detect! And as always, feel free to leave any feedback you may have! ^-^**


	7. Chapter 7

**NOTE:** **I MANAGED TO WRITE THIS CHAPTER! WOOP WOOP! (Also I'm feeling a lot better now! Though school just started and that tends to drain a lot of my time AND creativity so I'm gonna hold off on the party poppers xD)**

 **Anyways! Enjoy!**

Shouto is worrying his bottom lip between his teeth as he stares at the latest text he's got from Midoriya. Beginning to type out the same reply he's been giving for every other time he was faced with this question, he feels the heavy burden of guilt clouding his thoughts.

"How many times is it that you've told him you're too busy?" Yaoyorozu asks from her seat on the couch as he finally hits send.

"Five." Shouto answers solemnly, the dark feeling of shame only worsening at the understanding reply he gets shortly after.

"And when do you think he's going to start thinking you're just trying to avoid him?"

"About four times ago." Shouto lets out a miserable sigh before sinking down into the spot next to her, rubbing his temples in a worthless attempt to stop the impending headache from forming.

"We have a day off to replenish tomorrow so how about-"

"He's working late tonight and tomorrow so he's taking the day off too to get some rest. Said he wasn't planning on leaving the house." Yaoyorozu hums and they fall into silence.

Letting his head fall back against the couch, Shouto closes his eyes and groans. This was a mistake. He should have just told Midoriya right off the bat that he wasn't thinking straight and there was too much on his plate to have accepted his invitation. But every text he gets asking him if he's free to meet this day or that he thinks of those green eyes looking at him so expectantly and all he can do is say 'I can't then, but soon'. His definition of soon is clearly a little skewed.

At the very least, Shouto thinks he has been trying to keep in touch. He _has_ asked if he wanted to get coffee again but since he's been getting off practice later, by the time he's free Midoriya is getting ready for work, which he now knows is bartending at a place called _Erasure_. And it's not like Shouto hasn't considered going there to see him himself, but the way things have been going, by the time they're done for the day, it's all he can do to not just crash where he stands. More often than not he'll get home and fall asleep on the couch with a book on his face because he couldn't keep his eyes open long enough to actually put it down.

He had no issues sleeping anymore though, that was a plus. Sort of.

Because now every time he fell asleep all he saw was green eyes and large smiles and he didn't know what to make of it. Shouto saw him dancing in every single one, slow, emotional dances or fast paced routines that made it look as if the world tilted with each gasping breath that passed through his parted lips. Midoriya was always smiling but sometimes his eyes were filled with tears and in those Shouto would wake feeling like his stomach was twisted up into knots. Other times his smile was smaller and his eyes lidded, and his dancing made flames spread all around and Shouto woke feeling hot even as cold sweat licked down his back.

As much as he sleeps, he doesn't feel very well rested, as if he spent the whole night dancing with Midoriya instead of just watching. Even if his body should have got the rest it needed, his brain felt exhausted. He had half a mind to ask Yaoyorozu what he should do to make these dreams stop, but knowing her she'd probably just tease him for the rest of his life. Suffering in silence was a lot more appealing. Thankfully, the fleeting nature of dreams made it so that they dissolved into a fuzzy memory not long after waking up and he could focus on what he was supposed to be doing.

Though, that implied he had something to be doing. Right now, he's on his day off and Yaoyorozu is focused on watching her Korean dramas like they hold all the answers to the biggest questions of the universe. Meanwhile, Shouto is trying not to think about how last night Midoriya had taken Yaoyorozu's place in the routine they were working on. But that isn't even the strangest part, because while some parts were similar, there were steps that they hadn't included, lifts they hadn't even talked or thought about.

The routine they had agreed upon was professional, it was elegant and sleek. The one in his latest dream was filled with an array of feelings and sensations translated in lingering touches and low dips where Shouto's hands would nestle on the bend of his waist.

Loudly dropping the book in his hand down on the table, to the point where even Yaoyorozu's attention snaps back to him, Shouto turns to her with the blankest expression he can muster. He braces himself for anger or exasperation, possibly both with a little disbelief in the mix, and takes a deep breath.

"Would you hate me if I asked you to practice today? I want to make some changes to the new routine."

She blinks at him, tilting her head slightly while raising an eyebrow. Unlike anything he was expecting, she looks curious and Shouto feels scrutinised under her gaze as if she's analysing his intentions with her stare alone. For a second, he wonders if she can read his mind and see the dancing colours of Midoriya's languid body pressed against his and gulps. _It's not like that, it's not like that, it's not like that._

"What did you have in mind?" Resisting the sigh of relief that threatens to break out of him, Shouto moves out of his seat and starts explaining.

* * *

Shouto and Yaoyorozu are both panting by the end of the next day. She took the new additions in stride, saying they added a little spice to the set that was sure to catch people's eyes. Considering there weren't any restrictions that competitions were always inflicting on them, this was in fact the perfect opportunity to, in her words, show off. But it was a lot more taxing than their previous arrangement so it wasn't surprising that they ended their days a lot more exhausted than before.

However, Shouto somehow felt a lot more invigorated. It was as if this new routine breathed a whole new energy into him, for the first time in years he _felt_ the movements like they were an extension of his being rather than just the stretching and pulling of his muscles. And, of course Yaoyorozu noticed, patting his back after they're done with a little grin that seemed a tad too _knowing_.

"You're really stepping up your game, Shouto. By chance, is there a reason for this change of heart?" Shouto takes the pause in her speech as she takes a sip of water to sigh deeply and not grace her with an answer. With a little shrug she moves on, already having learned that pushing his buttons too much wasn't advisable. "I say we're due for a reward to celebrate your newfound passion, what do you say we go to that bakery?"

That at least seems to pique his interest. Now she's speaking his language, he has yet to taste that green tea cake that's been plaguing his every thought whenever he gets hungry. It's a good thing they had come the day before, which allowed them an earlier leave today and they could still get there before it closed.

That same pink cheeked girl from before greets them from behind the counter and Shouto thinks her smile is a little too wide. But maybe that is just part of her job's requirement. Not thinking too much of it, he once again sits down as Yaoyorozu orders their food and chats with her friend, this time offering a little nod of his head in greeting. It's only polite.

As soon as the cake is in front of him, Shouto sets his phone down to dig in, closing his eyes when the flavours melt against his tongue. The first bite is great, the second one is amazing, and without realising it, he's eaten the whole thing and is left wanting more. Across from him, Yaoyorozu is still delighting herself with the shortcake and Shouto is a little envious, considering whether he should just go get another one or not.

His thoughts are interrupted by the little bell above the door ringing the announcement of a new arrival and, instinctively, Shouto turns to look. His eyes fall on startled green ones and his mouth hangs open the tiniest bit. He hears the short giggles coming from the girl by the register and the curious hum from Yaoyorozu and some alarm sirens go off in his brain.

Though he doesn't have enough time to focus on what they're warning him about because Midoriya is looking between him and the other girl (Uraraka, wasn't it?) looking like he doesn't exactly know what he's supposed to do. Honestly, Shouto isn't sure of it himself, just debating whether he should wave or pretend he didn't recognise him, which would be stupid because he's been staring ever since he stepped in.

"Deku-kun!" Uraraka breaks their trance and they both turn their eyes away from each other, Shouto's towards the table and Midoriya's towards her.

"O-Ocha, hi! Um, gimme a sec!" Shouto feels the hairs on the back of his neck stand in that moment, and even as he knows what's about to happen, his heart still nearly stops when he hears Midoriya's steps grow closer. "Todoroki-san?"

The question for his attention is simple and seemingly innocent, but the little lift of his voice at the end of it has a cold feeling running down Shouto's spine and pooling in his stomach. It's not there per se, but he can almost hear the _I thought you said you were busy_ that's implied by it. With blood draining from his face and guilt settling in his chest, he turns to Midoriya with as calm an expression as he can muster.

"Midoriya. I got off earlier today, but I thought you'd be getting ready for work again so I didn't want to…" He trails off, leaving the 'get my hopes up' out of his sentence as he sees the other's mouth form a small 'o'.

He rubs the back of his neck and puts on a little smile. "Ah, I see. Mondays are actually my days off. You could've said something anyway, though." He looks between him and Yaoyorozu and bites on his bottom lip, shifting from one foot to another. Just as Shouto thinks he's about to turn and leave them, he opens his mouth again.

"You must be Yaoyorozu-san, right? I searched you two. Wait, no, that sounds creepy. I meant that, after I heard about your whole champion thing I wanted to know more, and one thing led to another and, I have to say, you're really beautiful when you dance! Not that you aren't right now too, I mean you're gorgeous, both of you are- When you're dancing! And… You know what, I'm gonna shut up now, it's an honour to meet you."

"It's Midoriya-san, correct?" He stops before leaving, looking back towards Yaoyorozu, who is extending a hand and smiling brightly at him. "Thank you for the compliment. Yaoyorozu Momo, it's nice to formally meet you, Shouto won't ever shut up about you."

Shouto pales further, if that's even possible, before aiming his iciest glare at his best friend. He's seriously considering cutting her out of his life at this point, especially when he hears Midoriya choking on his own spit at that. Even so, he takes her hand for a quick shake and a short bow, smiling sheepishly with a blush.

"Midoriya Izuku."

"You're a great dancer too, I've come to learn. So much so that you give my friend sleepless nights and I get my toes stepped on because of it."

"Momo." The warning is evident in Shouto's voice but she simply laughs it off saying it was a harmless jest while Midoriya's flush turns darker. "I'm sorry for my _friend_ , she has a serious problem with _teasing people_."

"Reminds me of someone I know." Midoriya mumbles and the snort that comes from behind the counter does not go unnoticed by any of them. Turning his attention back to Shouto, his eyes take on that expectant shine that had dragged him into this mess in the first place. "So… Does this mean you're free right now?"

"As a matter of fact, we are, right Shouto?" Yaoyorozu answers the question before he even has the chance to process it but he nods his agreement nonetheless.

Midoriya scratches his cheek and Shouto follows his finger with his eyes, entranced. "I actually came here to pick Ocha up. We're going by the studio in a bit since we're starting to plan for a flash mob to promote it. Just about everyone should be there, would you like to come by as well? Both of you, of course…"

"That would be great, we'd love to."

As it seems, Yaoyorozu is keen on answering everything for him, but it's all the same because Shouto wouldn't have said no even if that was what he wanted to do. Which he really didn't. Not when the result is that wide smile that shines brighter than quasars and lights up the entire world.

"Great!" Midoriya does this little jump that Shouto finds himself thinking has no right being so adorable. "Awesome! I'll uh, I'll leave you to it now. Okay…" He points towards the counter. "I'll be over there. Right. Enjoy the rest of your cake, Yaoyorozu-san! You should try the red velvet next time, Ocha makes the best red velvet!"

He's halfway down to the counter before he turns on his heels again and points towards the girl who's sporting an amused smirk. "That's Ocha by the way. Uraraka Ochako, actually. Yeah… Um, sorry. I'll leave you alone now." And with that he finally goes towards his friend and starts chatting with her.

Shouto's stare lingers.

"He's cute." Yaoyorozu whispers, drawing his attention back to her as she takes another bite of her cake. "No wonder you like him."

"It's not like that." That makes twenty-three times.

"I didn't say it was." Finally, a different response, at last. But it's not any less annoying since she definitely thought it and just felt like changing things up.

"You were thinking it." He voices, matter-of-factly, and she just shrugs her shoulders with a tiny giggle. "So, Uraraka-san. You could say she's a friend?" Shouto asks slowly, some pieces of this puzzle finally falling into place. He may be unbearably distracted whenever Midoriya is around but he is _not_ an idiot.

"You left me alone on our night out, did you expect me to just sit around waiting for you? We were mutually ditched and we bonded over it."

"Something tells me this friendship will end as more grief for me." Shouto sighs, rubbing his temples and Yaoyorozu dismisses his worries with a wave.

"Don't be so dramatic." Wiping at the corner of her mouth with a napkin she sets down her fork onto the plate. "We've just been talking, like you and Midoriya-san." Shouto hums, still suspicious and not at all with his mind eased.

Figuring it's best to let it go, they get up and move to the counter where the other two are talking while Uraraka rings up other costumers' orders. Shouto is formally introduced to the girl who shakes his hand and tells them all she finishes her shift in a few minutes and they can all wait outside for her.

He leans back against the wall as Midoriya and Yaoyorozu get acquainted, mostly through his countless questions about competitions and the environment surrounding ballroom dance. It was things he'd asked Shouto himself, but it seemed he wanted the insight from his friend's perspective, which was fine. Though, he'd be lying if he said he didn't feel a little ashamed at how much easier Yaoyorozu had it with their interactions. She was much more at ease, even with her formality and poised speech.

True to her word, Uraraka was soon joining them, holding onto to Midoriya's arm as they walked towards the studio together. Shouto watches the way they interact, her head resting on his shoulder every few steps, laughing at his jokes, always by his side and touching him. Something uncomfortable riles up inside him that he can't quite place, something he's entirely unfamiliar with and doesn't know what to do with.

"So, Todoroki, Yaoyorozu, how long have you been dancing together?" Uraraka turns to look at them as they walk and Midoriya looks for a moment too, curiosity shining in his eyes.

"Seventeen years?" Shouto answers, unsure and kind of taken aback that it's been so long. His friend nods by his side with a smile.

Midoriya lets out a drawn 'ooh' while Uraraka whistles, impressed. "That's a long time, you two must be really close then."

"Oh, Shouto's not here to make friends." He narrows his eyes at her and she nearly breaks down into knee-slapping cackles. "Sorry, inside joke. Yeah, we live together."

Midoriya trips on his own feet and it's only because Uraraka is holding onto his arm that he doesn't fall flat on his face. Shouto realises that he was halfway reaching towards him to catch his fall and returns his hands back into his jean pockets while asking if he's alright.

"Yeah, fine, I'm a klutz." There's a blush on his cheeks but his eyes are shining with an emotion Shouto can't make sense of. "You live together?"

"We both wanted to move out. It seemed convenient." Midoriya nods with a little exhale and then looks back to where he's stepping so he doesn't trip again.

"Where do you guys work?" Uraraka asks and they exchange a glance.

"We dance at the studio." Yaoyorozu replies, bashful. "We're not allowed a lot of time to do anything else."

"Plus, I'm fine draining my father's bank account." Shouto feels a playful shove on his side and the corners of his lips twitch momentarily. "What?"

"You're too honest." Shouto disregards the comment and Midoriya giggles in front of him, his stomach doing a flip at the sound.

"Must be nice. Being filthy rich." Uraraka laughs too, smirking in amusement when Yaoyorozu blushes and hides her face.

They finally make it to the studio and after a moment to drop their things in a locker, Midoriya and Uraraka usher them to a particular room where several people are already waiting. Immediately, Shouto sees Kirishima, the guy from the coffee shop, sitting with a guy with bright blonde hair and a black lightning bolt dyed onto his bangs as well as a pink haired girl he remembers from one of the videos he watched. Another guy is standing next to them, with straight black hair and a wide smile.

Near the speakers, scrolling through her phone, sits a girl dressed in very punk-rock fashion and hair dyed a dark purple. She's got headphones on her head, shaking it to the time of some beat that only she can hear and writing some notes down on a piece of paper on the floor next to her.

Off to the far corner of the room sits another person, their face obscured by the hood of a black sweatshirt and not allowing for their features to be seen. They've got a notebook on their lap, their legs crossed, and they're writing furiously, as if struck by a bout of inspiration and so focused that nothing could disturb them if it tried. Shouto notes that these last two aren't particularly donning the appropriate attire for dancing but says nothing.

The first group has their eyes turned to the new arrivals, Kirishima repeatedly poking the blonde's side while muttering something that is clearly only meant for him. Midoriya introduces them one by one.

"Guys, this is Todoroki-san and Yaoyorozu-san. Kirishima, you already know," The redhead waves and Shouto awkwardly does the same "Next to him is Kaminari and Ashido, and the one standing is Sero. And over there by the speakers is Jirou, she's a DJ and in charge of our set lists."

The girl in question nods with a 'Yo' at the mention of her name, clearly able to hear anything that is going on around her but not once looking up from what she's writing. Shouto thinks Midoriya is going to continue, but when he doesn't, he points his head towards the mystery person in the shadows of the room.

"Oh, that's Tokoyami, he writes poetry. He's just always around so we kind of stopped paying attention." Midoriya explains with a scratch of his head.

"Don't pay me any mind, solitude is my friend." Tokoyami's deep voice sounds, and as soon as it was there it was gone.

"So, what's the deal with your hair? You dye it that way or what?" Shouto turns to Kaminari as Midoriya's eyes widen and he starts fussing over him being rude.

Dismissing the other, Shouto shrugs and runs a hand through his locks, unaffected. His dual coloured hair was quite unusual so it wasn't anything out of the ordinary to be asked about it. "That's okay. It's full heterochromia, I've got my father's hair colour on the left and my mother's on the right. Same with the eyes."

"So pretty!" The girl called Ashido coos, bright eyed. "Is he single?" Midoriya's palm connects with his face so loudly that Shouto is somewhat worried he might have hurt himself. "That's okay if he isn't, I'll take the girl, she's really hot too."

"I called dibs!" Jirou shouts from the speakers and Yaoyorozu sputters. Shouto must admit, it's nice to not be the one on the receiving end of the teasing for once, and he makes a mental note of the fact that she's been staring at the DJ a little too long herself.

The others get up to properly greet them, Kirishima's pat to his back almost knocking him to the floor. Kaminari eyes him up and down, a mischievous grin dancing on his lips that Shouto isn't sure what he's supposed to think of. He side-glances at Midoriya and, before the latter has the chance to think of stopping what's going on, leans in a little too close for comfort.

"I hear the boy won world champ! But does he know how to _really dance_?" Crossing his arms over his chest, Shouto raises an eyebrow. "Yo, Kyouka, hit up my jam."

"Kaminari…" Midoriya starts protesting with a groan but is shushed by the sound of the music suddenly filling the room. He rolls his eyes before mouthing an 'I'm sorry' Shouto's way and backing away slightly.

The blonde began moving with the song as soon as Jirou had put it through to the speakers, all hip thrusts and swings. When the lyrics proper start, he moves to their instruction, dropping down with a wink and rising back up into some more of what he'd done in the beginning, then twirling and dropping to one knee and then his side. The phrase 'draw me like one of your French girls' crosses Shouto's mind and he finds himself smiling, mildly entertained. Especially as Kaminari thrusts back up and kicks with some attitude that Shouto can get behind.

The pull of his shirt as he pops his knees, showing off his abs, seems a little excessive, but Shouto keeps watching nonetheless, the sharp movements and cocky confidence amusing if nothing else. But when he lets himself fall into a split as the song dips to a different segment, some other movement catches Shouto's eye.

Midoriya moves his arms up above his head and swings them back down, bringing an ushering finger to his lips. Needless to say, Kaminari might have been doing backflips or even flying, Shouto wouldn't have been watching him anymore. Because the way Midoriya drops down, one hand at the crotch of his sweats, and swings his hips slightly before rising and cocking them provocatively… Well, there's no way not to stare at _that_.

The energetic beats of the music are matched perfectly by Midoriya's strong steps that scream 'power' while still being elegantly beautiful and captivating. And each time he moves with that hand calling for his attention, dropping low or rising up, flowing effortlessly and with purpose, Shouto is lost. His lips feel dry and his tongue like cotton as he gawks, watching in person as Midoriya's body turns into poetry in action.

Maybe that was why Tokoyami was always around, he certainly felt inspired looking at him.

And when the song once again changes and Midoriya is running a hand from his hair down the length of his body and lowering into somewhat of a split of his own Shouto almost chokes. But it's the turn onto his knees and subtle thrust of his hips that has him finally looking away with a clear of his throat, watching from the corner of his eye as he lifts back up and somersaults back.

Midoriya laughs as the music continues. " _That's_ how you _really dance_ , Kaminari." Shouto sees him punching the guy's shoulder, who rolls his eyes with a mutter of 'show off' that has no ill intent. When Midoriya turns back to him, he has to wonder if his face is on fire or not. He hopes it isn't. "Sorry about that, I got carried away."

"That's really fine." Yaoyorozu answers for him, yet again, clapping his shoulder. "You're amazing."

Shouto nods his agreement, not really trusting his voice to not play any tricks on him if he tries to voice it instead. Midoriya gets a little closer, his head down and a timid flush to his cheeks on top of the one he worked up while dancing. He starts to say something, rubbing at the back of his neck, but he's interrupted by a loud call of his nickname.

It sounds angry and aggressive, and when Shouto and Midoriya both look towards the source, a crimson stare that spells fury is glaring back at them.

 **NOTE:** **Two choreos for that one hehe (you can find them on my profile)**

 **And FINALLY that impending doom that I've been promising for two chapters! Sorry that it doesn't actually come to fruition here, the chapter was getting long so I thought that'd be the best cut off point... Apologies for the cliffhanger haha...**  
 **I hope you liked that, like Midoriya, I got a little carried away with this chapter lol**  
 **Feel free to leave any feedback you may have! ^-^**


	8. Chapter 8

Aggression. Shouto is much too familiar with this particular concept and its repercussions both. He isn't a particularly aggressive person, sure he gets angry sometimes and he tends to give off a cold intimidation when he's wary of someone or something and that can be misconstrued as aggression. But more often than not he isn't prone to violence or hateful reactions because he has lived with the prime example of how miserable it makes everyone around him. Even if he loses his temper, even if he acts rashly once in a while or wonders 'wouldn't it be easier if I just blew up?' Shouto will feel awful rather than relieved of his ire.

It is painful to be able to recognise aggression from one word alone, from a nickname that apparently so many people use as endearing. Shouto wonders if this was the way it was originally intended to be said or if the one who said it ever meant it the soft way before. Whichever the truth, for some reason, both options send an unfamiliar pang through Todoroki's chest.

"Kacchan!" Midoriya's voice breaks through Shouto's trance as the ashy blonde by the door stalks forward and towards them.

The defensive stance the other assumes, placing himself between the angry arrival and Shouto, doesn't sit right with him.

"Who's this fucker? This why you ended things? You fucking him too?"

Shouto isn't sure what he feels first. The shock, the offense, the outrage or the hurt. In that moment, some things suddenly become much clearer, pieces of a puzzle fall neatly into place and paint a bigger picture that isn't necessarily pretty. Why Midoriya was at the club, why he will suddenly flip from easy-going to close to tears, why the mention of one name seemed to trigger such a reaction. The ex. This 'Kacchan', this person who exudes explosive fury and is quickly getting closer was Midoriya's ex and their break up is the cause for his grief. Although, Shouto can't help but wonder why, staying with an even bigger question than the ones before.

"What? No, Kacchan, wait." Midoriya steps further away from him, closer to the other, hands stretched out towards him as if reaching for him and Shouto understands what it means.

"When did this start? I will break his fucking pretty face."

A multitude of things happen after this. First, Shouto's hands clench to fists, but not because of the blatant threat to his person, no. The fact he has the nerve to accuse someone as clearly kind as Midoriya of simply disregarding the feelings he obviously still harbours for him for a 'pretty face' is infuriating. Second, the blonde lunges for Shouto with the intent to jump him and, no doubt, hurt him. He would have been ready to fight back, not that he actually wanted to do anything of the sort, but his first instinct was to defend himself when he was so used to facing the brunt of someone's rage. Third, Midoriya jumps in between them, pushing against the other guy's chest and crying out for him to calm down.

Fourth, the image sparks memories long past back to life, shooting them to the forefront of his mind like a freshly opened wound. Suddenly he is standing behind his mother while she barricades his father from getting to him. Fifth, Midoriya is resisting against the other's advances, but those red eyes that are darkened with rage are focused on Shouto and he feels his throat closing up with a mix of fear and anger when he confuses them with blue ones. Sixth, in his fit to get to Shouto, he shoves Midoriya out of the way, who falls ungracefully on his side and cries out in pain. Their frame is in no way similar, their hair even less so, but somehow, Shouto finds himself at five years old with blisters on his feet and tears in his eyes as his mother tries to get his father to just stop for a moment.

Seventh, Yaoyorozu's hand wraps around his wrist and Shouto realises with a start that he's started to shake, his breaths coming out ragged and sounding much too loud in his ears. The simple touch is steadying and it reels him back in from a haze of forgotten memories, and the fear is slowly replaced with a fiery hot animosity that consumes him in a matter of seconds. Eighth, Kirishima and Kaminari are holding the other guy back, grabbing his arms to prevent him from launching himself at Shouto with snarls and fangs bared, like a wild animal who only knows violence. Yaoyorozu seems ready to do the same to him, but when he shakes off her hand he walks straight to Midoriya, still on the ground and with his arm close to his chest.

Ninth, he kneels next to him, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder and asking him if he's okay. His wrist looks like it hurts from the way he fell on it and Shouto is concerned that he might have sprained it, ignoring the shouted insults that ring loud in the back of his head. They're reminiscent of the angry demands he hears and heard from his father and they make his blood run cold, images overlapping, sounds mixing together. It's confusing and it's terrifying but Shouto only sees Midoriya squeezing his eyes shut and trying not to cry. Whether the reason for that is the pain from the fall or the one from the encounter, he doesn't know, but one thing is for certain, and it's that this guy is at fault.

Tenth, Shouto looks back at the blonde and says nothing, only staring with a steely gaze that could drain any warmth that might be in its path and makes the air feel frigid. Shouto is not prone to violence or aggression, but his eyes can be as cold as ice and they quell any fire that might dare to defy them. The other glares back, not showing any signs of backing down, not even when Kirishima and Kaminari are still trying to keep him from advancing. His gaze darts from Shouto's face to Midoriya behind him and he violently shoves them away too.

Shouto stands, taller than him and so, looking down on him with his unwavering stare. If there is anything he learned from his father, it is how to put someone down with his eyes alone, and even if only one of his is like that man's, he knows that he can be every bit as intimidating. It's not something he's proud of, it's not even something he likes to acknowledge, but without even knowing him, there's something about this guy that brings out something nasty in him.

"Kacchan, please… it's not like that…" Midoriya whimpers and Shouto has to fight the urge to tell him not to waste his breath on someone like that.

When that only seems to spark his irritation further and he takes a step towards them, Shouto's body tenses and he walks forward as well. Yaoyorozu calls his name but he doesn't back down. It isn't an acceptance of a challenge, it isn't a show of strength, not even a matter of pride. Shouto just doesn't want him to get any closer so that he can _hurt_ Midoriya again.

"Bakugou." Kirishima says simply, a warning hidden in plain sight in his tone.

The guy clicks his tongue, almost spitting venom with the action as he turns on his heels and walks back out with the redhead in tow.

As soon as they are out of sight, Shouto turns back to where Midoriya is holding on to his right arm, whining lowly any time he tries to move it and tears threatening to spill from the corners of his eyes. Uraraka and Ashido are kneeling on each side of him, the former brushing his hair out of his face in a tender gesture as she whispers soft words that Shouto can't quite hear. That same hot feeling burning in his gut is back, but he ignores it along with the ghosting fear making the hairs on the back of his neck stand in order to go to them.

Ashido helps him sit up and he leans against his friend, his breaths stuttering with the sobs he's trying to choke back. Shouto wonders how bad the damage actually is for him to be so distraught, for a moment worrying he may have fallen so badly that he broke his wrist, until he makes out Uraraka's words.

"You're okay, Izuku, breathe. He's gone, come on, you can get through this."

Shouto clenches his jaw tightly, glancing anywhere but at them because he doesn't want to see the anguished look on Midoriya's face knowing that awful person was the cause of it. It is painful beyond measure to know someone can be that unpleasant towards someone as wonderful as Midoriya, especially when Shouto had first-hand experience of a similar situation. It makes his stomach churn to see that he is still hurting so badly even when he's no longer in that relationship, more so when it's so agonisingly obvious that he still has feelings for that guy.

He would be a hypocrite to tell him it's not worth it though, when he's still enduring his own personal hell, even if it's for his mother's sake. At least Midoriya had made a clear effort to get away from his. Shouto was still stuck under someone's thumb, crushed into submission by the love he has for someone else and it's suffocating.

"Shouto…"

He blinks at Yaoyorozu, noting her concerned expression before he realises that the room is somewhat spinning. She holds on to his shoulders and that's when he feels his breaths are a little too short and his legs a little too unstable again. Stranger's eyes are on him and he doesn't know where to turn as he starts to hyperventilate.

"T-Todoroki-san? Are you okay?"

His vision goes in and out of focus when he turns it towards Midoriya, seeing worry twisting his features on top of the sadness that's still spilling down his cheeks. Yaoyorozu's hand grips his shoulder tightly in timed squeezes and Shouto matches his breaths to them, closing his eyes for just a moment and willing the walls to stop closing in around him. He pushes the anxiety clawing at his insides down and runs a shaking hand through his hair after slowly removing his friend's hands from his shoulders.

"I'm fine. I should be the one asking you that." Shouto rasps, his throat too scratchy and tight for his liking.

The others all turn to their friend and Shouto finds himself relieved to not be under their scrutiny any longer. Though, seeing Midoriya hide his face in shame and let his injured arm fall limply to his side isn't at all better.

"I'm okay… It's just a little sore, it'll be fine soon." True or not, Shouto can't help but wonder about his emotional state rather than the physical. "Sorry, I didn't think Kacchan would react like that… Honestly, I didn't think at all, I'm an idiot…"

"Hey, Deku, that's not your fault, Bakugou totally overreacted." Ashido frowns by his side.

"Yeah man, we'll talk to him. That was defo uncool." Kaminari agrees with a small nod. "Pretty sure Kiri's giving him an earful."

"I'm gonna punch him in the face." Shouto would gladly join Uraraka.

"Ocha…"

"What? He just saw you calmly talking to someone and his first instinct is to accuse you of _cheating_ on him? Who does he think he is?" At least someone said it. He couldn't agree more. "That possessive piece of-"

"Ocha!" Midoriya cries out, squeezing his eyes shut and hunching in on himself. "Please…" His voice sounds as defeated as he looks and it feels so wrong to Shouto's eyes that he almost turns on his heels to find him himself. But that's not his place, they hardly know each other yet after all.

"Let's all just give Midoriya some space to breathe." Another voice that Shouto doesn't recognise sounds from behind him and he cocks his head slightly to see a tired looking person with dark hair almost wilder than Midoriya's. "Not sure what the hell happened here but by the look on blasty's face it can't be good."

He slowly approaches the group, taking in the scene with a seemingly uninterested demeanour, but there is the hint of displeasure in those reddened eyes that only translates to the downward tilt of his mouth when someone summarises the events in a few short words. The guy tilts his head towards Shouto and raises one eyebrow for little more than a second before returning his attention to the others.

"It's fine guys." Midoriya dismisses everyone's worries with a shaky sigh, and they all look at him sceptically as he lifts himself up off the floor and walks past them towards Shouto, eyes downcast. "I'm really sorry this happened."

"It's not your fault." Shouto says immediately, thinking it's so obvious that he shouldn't be the one apologising, it hurts that Midoriya doesn't see it.

"I should have thought this through, Kacchan is on edge and-"

"Don't excuse his actions," Shouto interrupts, a spark of irritation flickering so suddenly, that he doesn't even process it before the words start spilling out of his mouth. "He's the only one responsible for them."

"But I-"

"But you what? You should have stopped him? You should have been able to change him so that it wouldn't have happened to begin with? He's rash and quick to jump to conclusions that don't even make sense and he clearly has no regard for anyone's feelings but his own," A hand is on his arm but he hardly feels it as he keeps talking without thinking "and it's not your job to make him a good person. If you keep this up it won't just be your body he's breaking."

"Shouto!"

Yaoyorozu's shocked call snaps him back from the confusing mix of feelings that are overlapping his experience with Midoriya's own. He pales when he comes to, playing back what he just said on over and over again, and feeling worse after each time. "Excuse me, I… I shouldn't… I'm sorry…"

Without another word, Shouto walks out and Yaoyorozu follows right after him, his name dripping with concern as it tips from her lips repeatedly. He only stops when he is already outside and his eyes land on the back of Kirishima's head and, consequently, Bakugou's face as well. They lock gazes for a moment, until Yaoyorozu finally catches up to him and starts pulling him down the street and away from that aggressive stare.

He starts walking faster once he's no longer in his line of sight and the temptation to go and give him a piece of his mind isn't so strong. Yet he still feels his insides burning, his lungs in particular, each breath like fire and scorching him on the way down.

"Shouto, calm down, you're shaking…" Yaoyorozu whispers softly, and he slows down his pace, wheezing slightly as he inhales painfully. "You haven't gotten this worked up in a really long time. Are you okay?"

Resisting the urge to ask her if he _looks_ okay, Shouto just shakes his head weakly, trying to level his breathing. He's disoriented, feeling equal parts guilty for what he said and beyond upset for not only snapping at Midoriya for simply having feelings for someone who doesn't deserve him but also walking out without so much as a goodbye. Yet, even if he feels awful about it, he somehow feels that, despite being harsh, everything he said had been the truth.

Still, he shouldn't have said it. He'd spent all of his childhood biting back similar remarks until it was too late and now he'd gone and near threw them back at Midoriya's face when he was already hurting. He had no right to meddle, much less to do it so bluntly without even being asked.

"I screwed up…" Shouto lets out, his voice as shaky as he feels when it dawns on him that Midoriya will probably not want to talk to him again after what he'd said. And he wouldn't blame him for that either.

"Maybe a little, but-" Yaoyorozu places a comforting hand on his arm "-Midoriya-san seems like an understanding person. You were clearly shaken and I'm sure he knows you didn't mean to be so… ruthless."

"I shouldn't have said anything in the first place, ruthless or otherwise."

She offers him a small, apologetic smile, gently rubbing his arm in a soothing gesture. "You were always a little too honest for your own good."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" He asks, a little incredulous and undeniably miserable. "I wouldn't be surprised if he hates me now."

"I wouldn't go so far as to say that. You can't blame yourself for caring about him."

"His relationships are none of my business." He rebuts, scolding himself all over again and doing his best not to actually punch anything in his anger.

"Even when they remind you so much of your father?"

Shouto pauses, directing his gaze back to her with the look of someone who's just realised they've been shot and are only then feeling the pain. Her expression looks stern now, her dark eyes hard and her lips pulled to a taut line. She's still holding onto his arm, but her grip is tighter, like she is both trying to get him to listen and not letting him run away from what he doesn't want to hear.

"Do you think I'm stupid or blind? Must be one of those, Shouto, because there's no other way I could have missed any of what was going through your head then. You look at him stepping in front of you to protect you and you see her, don't you? You look at his ex and you see your father standing over her, ready to do anything necessary to put her in her place, isn't that right?"

"Stop that…" Shouto averts his eyes, suddenly feeling sick and like the world is spinning faster than it should be.

"No, _you_ stop that. I know it's hard to see when you're so close to that situation but this is _not_ the same. It's awful, of course it is, but Midoriya-san isn't your mother.

"He's hurting because he cares even though that guy is clearly a dick, pardon my French. But as much of a violent bastard as he seems, he's also not your father. Misguided? Sure. With a short fuse? Without question. But he didn't seem like the kind of person to send someone to a mental hospital."

"Momo, please."

"No, Shouto, you need to hear this. What you said wasn't wrong but you're also right when you said it's none of your business. You care, that's obvious, so be his friend, not his protector. He doesn't need one, he seems very capable, even if a little emotional."

She stops to take one breath and once again squeeze his arm tenderly. And Shouto thought _he_ was harsh… Yaoyorozu really knows how to set him straight when he is spiralling out of control. Maybe that was why they'd always gotten along so well. She is the voice of reason in the back of his head when his thoughts become too clouded with the memories he tries so hard to forget.

"Now, take a few deep breaths and calm that hot head of yours so that you can properly apologise for meddling. And please, keep in mind, Midoriya-san isn't going to cave into despair, he's not under the pressure of losing everything if he tries to get out. He just has a really questionable taste in men." She eyes him up and down and tilts her head with a hum. "Makes sense."

"It's not like that." The words are out of his mouth before he can stop them. Also, twenty-four times he's had to say that. Maybe he should do something when it reaches fifty.

"Of course not. Good to see you're back." She smiles softly and pats his head a few times. "Let's go home and rest."

He nods with a sigh, feeling a headache coming that he hopes to be able to sleep off. Shoving his hands in his pockets, Shouto frowns at the floor as he follows Yaoyorozu down the street. She is a calm presence by his side, quiet but supportive and Shouto welcomes it. He couldn't ask for a better friend, someone less understanding might have given up on him the moment they met. He was awful to her, standoffish, never directing a word her way if it wasn't necessary… It was a miracle she'd stuck with him all these years.

When they finally reach their apartment, Shouto digs out his phone and stares at his texts with Midoriya for a long time, trying to come up with a decent way to apologise that doesn't sound like he barely cares. He feels decidedly awful about his reaction and all of Yaoyorozu's points were perfectly valid, which only makes him even more miserable. He projected his own negative experiences onto Midoriya's situation and lashed out without meaning to.

Each time he tries to type something out, he second-guesses himself and erases everything all over again. His head is unbearably sore and all he can think is that he's royally screwed his chances of ever being Midoriya's friend and anything he can say isn't nearly enough. It will sound insensitive or dishonest. He didn't even say goodbye. God, why didn't he at least do that?

"Shouto… You're overthinking again, you're biting your nails." Yaoyorozu scolds him, coming out of her room in more comfortable clothes, and Shouto takes his thumb out of his mouth with a huff. "Come on, it's not that hard, you can do this."

"You sound patronising." She shrugs, sitting next to him and looking at the blinking line before 'Enter message' then turning to him with a cocked eyebrow.

"Just think of it like this. What would you have told him if he were here, right now?" Shouto narrows his eyes at her, still just as at a loss as before.

"I don't know. That's not very helpful." He exhales and slides down on the couch slightly.

"Get out of your head for a second and just apologise." She rolls her eyes at him, exasperated. "Offer to treat him to something to make up for it."

That's… not a terrible idea. Resigning to stopping his moping and actually doing something about it, he taps his message out and sends it with nary a lookover so that he doesn't start regretting it again.

 **[Todoroki Shouto 08:11 pm]**

 _I apologise for the way I acted earlier and how I left as well. I spoke out of place and there's really no excuse so, please, let me make it up to you by treating you to something, sometime._

 _-delivered-_

Honestly, Shouto doesn't expect a reply so soon, if at all. He's already bracing himself for another sleepless night of staring at his dark ceiling while trying to ignore the cold feeling that's settling in the pit of his stomach and making him feel a little nauseous. Yaoyorozu might have gone to do something else at this point, but she remains beside him, just scrolling through her own phone, as if to let him know she's there for him if he needs anything. Even if that is for her to just sit there quietly.

His heart nearly drops when he feels his phone vibrate a few times in a row. Yaoyorozu looks at him from the corner of her eye and he just stays frozen for what feels like an excruciating eternity. He's scared to open the text and see what he's almost certain to be a kind request from Midoriya to stop talking to him and not to contact him anymore in any way, shape or form.

With a quivering breath, he unlocks his phone and opens the text.

 **[Midoriya Izuku 08:23 pm]**

 _Hey u don't hav anyfing to aplgse 4_

 _U wer right, its not my respnsblty_

 _It just kinda sux cus i wntd u to hav a gud time_

 _& i shudv seen it cmng_

 _We didnt rly end fings on a gud note. It was rly messy & hes a bit xplsv_

 _Very xplsv._

 _I mean ders a reson Shinsou cals him blasty…_

 _Im rambling again. Anyway, im the 1 whos sry. Kinda thought ud nvr talk to me again tbh. But yeh, if anyfing i shud b the 1 tretng u. tell me wen ur free, least i can do_

Shouto takes a long time to decipher some parts of his texts and that gives him some respite because it means he's not as upset anymore. He thinks that maybe Uraraka had something to do with that, and suddenly Shouto is thankful that she's by his side to help him in his hardest times. If she makes him happy, there's absolutely no reason he shouldn't be happy that they have each other.

"See? Things aren't as bad as you make them out in your head. Not everyone thinks as negatively of you as you do." Yaoyorozu whispers, getting up and ruffling his hair playfully.

He feels a small tug at the corner of his mouth as he replies to Midoriya saying he'll let him know and that he's looking forward to meeting again. Hopefully with less incidents.

 **NOTE:** **When uni starts and drains your motivation but you vowed to try your darndest to get a chapter out each week...  
** **I just slammed out the second half of this chapter this afternoon so I didn't have a lot of time to read it over a lot for mistakes! Please excuse some typos/lemme know if you see them!  
** **But overall, I was really happy with how it turned out in the end, even though I struggled with a transition there for a while xD  
** **Hope you guys enjoyed it too! And as always feel free to leave any feedback you may have! ^_^  
** **Thank you for reading!**


	9. Chapter 9

Izuku watches as the blood drains from Todoroki's face as soon as he realises what he'd just said. Yaoyorozu's shocked gasp of his name had snapped him back from whatever world he'd slipped into and Izuku watches as he stumbles through an apology and bolts out the door. His friend sends them one last quick look, one that screams remorse, and she runs after him with a whispered apology of her own.

For lack of a better description, Izuku feels like he's been slapped across the face. There's a hand on his shoulder that forces his gaze from the empty doorway to Shinsou's mostly unfazed expression. If Izuku didn't know any better he would have said his friend didn't have any particular interest in the situation that had just transpired, but the hardness of his eyes was more than enough indication that he wasn't pleased.

"Well, that was harsh…"

"It was true though." They both turn their heads towards Uraraka, standing with her arms crossed over her chest and mouth pulled to a taut line. "Maybe I wouldn't have said it so bluntly in his place, but he wasn't wrong at all, you must know that."

Letting his eyes fall to the floor, Izuku pulls his bottom lip between his teeth, gnawing at it in earnest to ignore the dull pang that settles in his chest the longer he thinks about what just happened. He feels positively awful, a cold and sick feeling pooling in his stomach that he's become much too accustomed to, renewed tears prickling at his eyes. Sucking in a harsh breath, he rubs at his face, wincing when it turns out he's used his right hand, still sore and somewhat swollen now that he looks at it.

Shinsou crosses his arms in a mimic of Uraraka's position with a huff of a breath and a tilt of his head, his eyes fixed on Izuku's wrist and a thoughtful expression settling in his features. He walks over to him, looking him dead in the eye and making him want to shrink into the size of an ant to hide, then places a hand on his arm. Izuku stares at it for a second before looking back to his permanently exhausted friend.

"Go home." He says simply, deadpan.

"Wha-"

"You're injured, blasty's pissed and you won't make that any better no matter what you might be thinking, that guy has got the shortest fuse known to man and you're like a lighter that's always setting it off. Especially after you broke up with him. Good for you, by the way. Anyway, you're better off at home, healing, for the time being."

"I'm f-" Was everyone just going to interrupt him before he could get any words out today?

"Yes, yes, you're fine. You said that the last time, when you sprained your ankle, then you tripped into the wall and ended up dislocating your shoulder. Go home."

"I…" Izuku blinks a few times, a little dazed, trying to process everything Shinsou had just dumped on him almost as fast as he does when he goes on his rants. "What about the set for the mob?"

"We'll work it out and Uraraka can relay the info to you later. You're the best out of all of us to pick up on choreography quickly, you can do it."

Izuku couldn't really argue with that, no matter how much he wanted to. If he was being honest with himself, he didn't really want to stay and face Bakugou, but at the same time, he didn't want to keep running either. Though, trying to dance with a sprain was not really a good idea, not for him. He always ended up pushing himself too hard to prove he was fine and injuring himself further, just like Shinsou said. Damn him and his convincing logical arguments. Izuku pouts but acquiesces with a sigh.

"Good boy."

Shinsou pats his head twice and Izuku glares at him, unamused. "Stop treating me like a trained puppy."

"But you're so good at taking orders."

He smirks and the others snort around him, a groan crawling out of Izuku when Kaminari and Uraraka both agree that Shinsou has him pegged. Rolling his eyes, he shoves his friend and squawks out in pain once more having used his right hand to do so. He really isn't used to having it out of commission, which only serves to prove Shinsou right even more.

Reluctantly, Izuku says his goodbyes and goes to gather his things from the locker, Uraraka pulling him off to a side before he goes. She squeezes arm to get his attention, looking at him sternly yet with concern shining in her eyes, chewing the inside of her cheek as she looks straight into his soul.

"You're not going to beat yourself up about this, right?" Izuku avoids her gaze rather than grace her question with an answer. It's not like he could actually lie to her if he wanted to. "Izuku, it wasn't your fault."

"I shouldn't have invited him here when I knew Kacchan would be here as well."

"And why the hell not?"

"Because…"

He trails off, feeling guilty all over again. If he hadn't, Kacchan wouldn't have blown off on Todoroki, who wouldn't have gotten worked up over the situation and in turn snapped at Izuku. If he'd just thought things through instead of getting way too excited at the prospect of spending some more time with Todoroki and having him meet his other friends this never would have happened. If he hadn't broken up with Kacchan in the first place, he wouldn't have had any reason to…

"It's not your fault he wants to justify the break-up with something that isn't because of him. Bakugou doesn't want to see that the reason this happened is because he wasn't good to you…"

"That's not…" _true? Why are you still trying to lie to yourself, Izuku? We weren't good for each other._

Izuku hunches in on himself, letting out a shaky exhale and Uraraka pulls him into a tight hug, careful not to stir his right hand as she does. After a moment, he returns the embrace, nuzzling his face into her hair for a second before pushing away, his eyes fixed on a particular point on the floor.

Even if the situation itself wasn't Izuku's fault, he still can't but feel bad for how it went down. Todoroki was so shaken by the whole thing, to the point that he had actually momentarily lost his temper, someone that appeared so mild-mannered whenever they were together. And after he realised what he'd said, he looked so shocked with himself, left in such a hurry that Izuku couldn't even say anything past his own surprise. He probably wouldn't want to talk to or see Izuku ever again, if this was the way things would go.

As if almost breaking down into crying when they met for coffee that first time hadn't been enough of a red flag. Now he had literally dragged Todoroki into his personal issues. He's sure that he wants nothing to do with any of that kind of drama.

"Izuku," Uraraka's hand brushes a tear off his cheek he hadn't even noticed had managed to escape the confines of his eyes "it's okay. It wasn't your fault. Just let Todoroki cool off and I'm sure everything will work itself out. Please don't go back to wallowing in self-pity all alone in your apartment… Maybe try to text him and clear things up."

Izuku nods weakly but doesn't really feel like he believes his affirmation. He'll try, of course he will, but when things are just so fresh on his mind, he has a hard time not dwelling on them. After all, he's always been a bit of an overthinker, as Uraraka keeps reminding him, and he tends to worry over the littlest of details forever, going over every scenario that did and didn't happen, everything he thinks he could or should have done differently…

He just couldn't not feel responsible when he was the one who invited Todoroki in the first place, and instead of giving him a reason to enjoy his company and want to spend more time with him, he'd instead made him upset. Well, technically it had been Kacchan but Izuku breaking up with him was the reason he was even angrier than usual. Though if he hadn't done that, he likely wouldn't have even met Todoroki in the first place and the pang of sadness Izuku felt at just the mere thought was something he was definitely going to freak out about some time when he was alone. But the fact of the matter was that him getting friendly with another guy that Kacchan doesn't even know probably didn't help the situation in the slightest.

"You're blaming yourself already aren't you?" Uraraka interrupted his train of thought and he forced himself to meet her gaze again. "Get this inside your thick head. What Todoroki said was accurate, you're not responsible for Bakugou's actions, if he's a dick he's only got himself to blame. And don't you dare think that you made things worse for making a friend. And even if you _were_ screwing him, you're well within your right to move on."

Izuku feels a blush take over his cheeks, a scandalised call of Uraraka's name slipping past his lips. She shrugs unapologetically and hugs him again, spotting the angry blonde's posse walking back in and sending a grimace Kacchan's way. Kirishima is holding onto his shoulders, pushing him past them as fast as he can while the other grumbles something under his breath. Camie seemed to have joined them at some point since they went out, waving at him with a somewhat sad smile and Izuku returns it in kind.

When they are back inside the studio, he looks back at his best friend with as serious an expression as he can muster. "Don't go getting in trouble yourself..."

Uraraka scrunches up her nose and furrows her brow, clearly displeased with his request. "No promises."

"Ocha..." He warns, feeling guilty all over again that she was also riled up. It must have showed in his face because she huffs in annoyance but nods her head.

"Fine, fine. I'll try not to kick his ass for being an insufferable jerk."

Well, she didn't have to put it _that_ way, but Izuku is at least relieved. Kind of. She _did_ say that she'd try... But Uraraka isn't really well known for her impulse control. Shinsou is there too, though, and he's pretty good at defusing situations so that gives Izuku some peace of mind.

"Okay then, you'll tell me what you guys decide on later?"

"You know it. But I won't show you the choreography until your sprain is healed. I know you too well to believe for a second you won't practice it at home even if I bar you from entering the studio."

"That's fair." He admits with a tiny smile, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly, with his left hand this time.

Uraraka walks back to the room where everyone else is waiting to get started and Izuku makes his way out, a little dejected. He was looking forward to today, even more so when he found Todoroki and he accepted to come with them to watch and maybe help their discussion on what they should dance for the flash mob. A fresh pair of eyes outside their crew was always welcome to give opinions on whether something would be better done a certain way. It really upsets him that things had taken such a wrong turn.

When he gets to his apartment, Izuku decides to take a shower and use some bandages he's got laying around to wrap his wrist tightly so that he doesn't jostle it too much. He takes some frozen veggies from the freezer and lays them over the injury, flopping onto the couch with a tired sigh. Handling his phone with just his left hand is a bit more awkward than he anticipated, only realising how much he relies on his right when he can't use it to type as he browses the latest news.

Izuku is trying not to dwell on what had happened earlier, like he told Uraraka he would, but it's proving much harder than he initially thought. His mind keeps drifting back to Todoroki's face when Yaoyorozu had held onto his shoulders, his expression nothing short of panic. The shock taking over his features when he caught himself overstepping a boundary to make Izuku listen to reason is burned into the back of his eyelids and he feels so awful.

He keeps opening the text app to send over an apology but then he starts thinking about how Todoroki told him that he had nothing to apologise for, and even though he disagrees, he doesn't want to anger him again. He dwells on what Uraraka and Todoroki both told him, replaying their words in his mind time and time again to convince himself he's not at fault, there was nothing he could have done to prevent what happened. _Not true, you could've done something, you could've done so many things. You could have invited him another day, you could have cleared things up with Kacchan, you could have, you should have-_

Izuku jumps to his feet, the nearly defrosted bag of vegetables falling with his action and he shakes his head to clear his head. No, he didn't know when Todoroki would be free again, he's been really busy lately. Kacchan isn't easily reasoned with, especially when he's still so upset about what happened, and he couldn't have avoided that in the first place because their break-up _needed_ to happen. It was what was best for both of them, even if it was so hard to see it when the wounds were still so raw. And Izuku isn't to blame for Kacchan's actions. He _isn't_.

He looks at his phone, debating one last time whether or not he should just text Todoroki apologising… Uraraka did say to let him cool off and maybe that wasn't such a bad idea… Deciding to distract himself, Izuku grabs something to eat and turns on the TV, getting lost in some random medical drama's convoluted plot-line that he has no clue about. He guesses the characters' relationships based on how they interact with each other. Clearly there are two who are either dating or married for a really long time, but the guy is obviously having an affair with one of the male nurses because- Oh, there they go, kissing each other, Izuku totally called it.

In his quest to stop thinking about what happened, he actually misses the text he gets, only seeing it ten minutes after it's been sent and nearly freaking out before he sees it hasn't been that long. Either way, he starts replying, sending a stream of texts one after another, stopping himself before he goes on a tangent on all the incidents that have earned Kacchan the nickname 'blasty'. In the end, he can't help but apologise as well, offering to treat Todoroki instead of the other way around. He still hasn't gotten the chance to pay for that coffee from last time either so this is the perfect opportunity to kill two birds with one stone.

All they have to do is find a time that works for both of them. He found out Todoroki's days off are on Sunday, so maybe he can push past the late-night shift exhaustion he gets on the weekends just once… He's gone through worse before anyway.

A little smile takes over his lips at the overwhelming relief that not everything is ruined, Todoroki's response just as formal as usual, but with a promise of having a better time when they next meet. They keep chatting with each other for a little while, Izuku telling him that he was booted out of practice for being injured and Todoroki completely agrees with the other's decision.

 **[Midoriya Izuku 8:45 pm]**

 _Im offndd. & here i was, thinkng ud take my side_

 _-delivered-_

 **[Todoroki Shouto 8:46 pm]**

 _I take the side of whoever looks out for your wellbeing. Why do I get the feeling that's not you at all?_

 **[Midoriya Izuku 8:46 pm]**

 _How dare u cal me out lik dis?_

 _Ill hav u kno Ocha makes sur i get at lest 3 meals a day & shower evry day. Most of the time_

 _-delivered-_

 **[Todoroki Shouto 8:48 pm]**

 _What does 'most of the time' mean? Also, that really doesn't include preventing self-inflicted injuries._

 **[Midoriya Izuku 8:49 pm]**

 _Dont worry bout it._

 _-delivered-_

Izuku can't stop the small chuckles and goofily wide smile that stretches across his face as Todoroki continues to fuss over his safety. It's honestly kind of funny, it's just a sprained wrist after all, nothing too serious and he'll probably be good in two days, three if he decides to be really conservative about it.

He catches himself before he sends the words 'if you're so worried why don't you take care of me yourself', his eyes widening as he hits the backspace so hard he's a little worried he might have dented the screen or something. He _really_ shouldn't be saying things like that. He _definitely_ shouldn't be feeling butterflies mutiny deep in his gut thinking of Todoroki taking it seriously and accepting the blatant offer. And most importantly, he _isn't_ entertaining the idea that maybe he wants him to.

Shaking his head, Izuku says instead that he's grateful for the concern, but he's really okay. Soon after he gets a reply from Todoroki saying that it doesn't mean he shouldn't take care of himself, followed by excusing himself to get some rest for the full day ahead. Swallowing around the lump that had suddenly formed in his throat, Izuku wishes him a goodnight and goes back to watching the predictable drama, refusing to keep thinking about Todoroki for the rest of the night.

Yet his brain seems to have different plans. Having ended up falling asleep watching the show, Izuku wakes up in the middle of the night from some strange dreams in which Todoroki is the male nurse he cheats on Kacchan with, making him feel equal parts guilty and embarrassed. The day's events really had taken a greater toll on him than he cares to admit.

* * *

 _"I'm really sorry Deku-kun!"_ Uraraka's voice sounds from the other end of the line, filled with remorse and irritation both. Izuku can almost see her bowing her head while scowling so deeply it might hurt. _"I really tried to get them to back down, but those_ jerks _weren't willing to listen. Not even that idiot Bakugou said anything, pri-"_

"Can you tell me what happened? I really have no idea what you're apologising to me for…"

He says honestly, slurping down some instant noodles he'd heated up for lunch when he didn't particularly feel like cooking. He hears his best friend sighing heavily before telling him she's on her way to his place because her shift won't start until later and she'd rather tell him in person. He wonders what could be so bad that she couldn't say it through the phone but shrugs it off, thinking he'll find out soon enough.

When he actually hears what she has to tell him, he understands why she not only wanted to do it in person but also insisted he sit down before. Izuku feels his head start to spin, his blood run cold and drain from his face completely, his stomach twisting up into so many knots he might actually hurl. Swallowing down the sick feeling, he runs a hand through his hair and tries to will the corners of his vision to stop closing in.

As it turns out, the others decided through a democratic majority that, since Izuku and Kacchan were among the best dancers and their moves complimented each other perfectly, they had to dance at least one piece together for the flash mob. Dancing with Kacchan had been one of the things that made him stay for the longest time despite everything else that was going on in their relationship. It made him feel high, like they were connected on a much deeper level, one that couldn't really be put into words but he felt was seamlessly expressed in the way they moved together.

Izuku remembers the eyes of the crowds on them whenever they danced, watching with shining enthusiasm, brilliant smiles and excited cheers. He remembers Kacchan's hands on his body, pulling them flush against each other, turning him around and lifting him in the air. Izuku remembers the way it was addicting, like the most powerful drug that he could never get enough of.

And now, he has to jump right back into that feeling and risk getting hooked one more time. He glances at Uraraka, a little dazed. She's biting the inside of her cheek like she often does when she's mad that something isn't going how she wants it to.

"Maybe if you talk to them yourself… They can't force you to do anything you don't want to and I'm sure they won't cut you out of the routine entirely just because you won't do this one set."

A weak tremble runs down Izuku's spine and he looks back down to his lap. He should do what she's saying, Camie or Ashido are more than capable of dancing anything Izuku might and they both get along with Kacchan really well, they have good chemistry. But not as good as he does with him. And no matter how humble Izuku might be, he also knows that his skills are a nearly indispensable asset to the success of their promotions or he wouldn't have worked his way to the main showings they participated in. Some of them even to Yagi-sensei's request.

It would require him to be in close quarters with Kacchan for long periods of time, even if there would be more people around during their practices. Doing a piece together meant that they had to be much closer than any group routine may have required.

Izuku winces slightly when he clenches his fists around the fabric of his sweats, his wrist still a little sore from yesterday. He can ask the others to sit this one out, but he can't keep running from Kacchan forever. He'd heard of the flash mob and expected to be working with Kacchan again, he wasn't planning on hiding because he wanted to be a part of this. That hasn't changed. Izuku isn't going to keep cowering behind the 'we just broke up' excuse to keep avoiding his ex, the childhood friend he was still undeniably in love with but knows he can't be with.

"No, I'll do it." He breathes in and out a few times, calming his suddenly frantic heartbeat. "But on one condition."

Uraraka purses her lips, tilting her head slightly. "What is it?"

Izuku gulps around the lump in his throat. "I don't know what you guys decided, but I get to pick the song and the theme of our part. No one else has a say in this, not even Kacchan."

Crossing her arms over her chest, Uraraka lets out a long hum, closing her eyes as she takes on a thoughtful expression. He watches as she mulls the words over. "I have a bad feeling about this Deku-kun…"

"You're thinking that I'll go back to him if we dance together."

It wasn't a question, Izuku knows exactly what is going on in her head. He knows because it's the very same thing he is thinking about himself. But as emotional and hurt as he is, Izuku isn't weak-willed. He may not trust himself around Kacchan entirely, he may still want to fix things and try again, but he _knows_ that he _can't_. No matter how hard it may be, he can't fall back into his old ways of enduring Kacchan's short tempers for the sake of a feeling that as great as it is, doesn't even begin to make up for all the grief.

If Izuku ever wants to free himself from this addicting feeling, he has to bask in it and be strong enough to walk away. So that is exactly what he's going to do.

 **NOTE: *raises from the dead* I LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVE! Haha, sorry for that week without an update, I still posted a fic during that time because I'd been working on it over the course of a few weeks so... But um, uni is really cracking the whip right about now... So many assignments *sobbing* Expect updates to be a teensy bit slower, but I'll still do my very best to keep bringing them to you! Hope you enjoyed it, and as always, feel free to leave any feedback you may have! ^-^**


	10. Chapter 10

Ever since Uraraka left his apartment to go to work, Izuku has been left alone with his thoughts and his decision. It's hanging over him like a very large and dark cloud of anxiety, ready to burst and pour all over him and get him to the edge of a full-blown panic attack. It's not that he thinks he can't go through with it, that he's really so weak-willed that just one second dancing with Kacchan and he'll be right back to square one, willing to take anything just for that feeling. He's not… He made a decision that, with or without Uraraka's help, was his alone. He made it because he loved Kacchan and he knew that this was the best for them both…

Not matter how much it hurts or how hard it is.

Izuku doesn't miss the fact that he has to keep telling himself the same thing over and over again, as if he's still trying to convince himself that this was the right thing when he already knows it to be the case. And it doesn't help the almost crippling self-doubt he feels; his insecurities reach towards the surface from where he's buried them deep within and make him shiver. Uraraka's apprehension is really doing a number on him too, even though he knows that she's just trying to look out for him, it's extremely discouraging how much she's worrying that the worst will really come to pass.

He's been pacing back and forth in his apartment for lord knows how long, threatening to wear out a path on the floorboards from how much he's doing it. Izuku wants to know that he can really do this, he wants to be sure that it isn't a mistake but that will never happen until he does it. Still, a little reassurance from his friends would be nice. Uraraka's already proved to be less than helpful in that department because all she manages to do is ask whether he's sure or not, each time making him question and second-guess himself further. Considering Shinsou was the one who sent him home after what happened at the studio, he's probably not going to be very supportive of this decision. After all, Uraraka said he'd been the only other person to oppose the suggestion of Izuku and Kacchan dancing a piece together.

Kirishima, Kaminari, Ashido, Sero and Camie would probably be on his side, but they were also the friendliest ones with Kacchan himself and likely to just want them to patch things up. Not necessarily romantically, especially in Kirishima's case since he'd been enthusiastically pestering him about whether or not he was actually with Todoroki or not ever since…

Pausing his march, Izuku mulls over the idea that suddenly popped in his head and hums thoughtfully, his brow furrowing deeply as he grumbles over his options. Maybe… Is this crazy? Probably… He looks at his phone and sees that it's been a couple hours since Uraraka left, which meant that Todoroki was probably practicing at this moment. Figuring he really has nothing left to lose, he pulls up the text app.

 **[Midoriya Izuku 04:35 pm]**

 _R u free round 6-8 today?_

 _-delivered-_

Ashido was taking the first shift tonight, which meant Izuku only had work a little later and could meet Todoroki after his practice if he was willing, have a chat to clear things up and buy him that coffee and something else. And he could also ask for advice. Was that weird when they'd only just started to get to know each other? Most likely, but he had enough time to think about it until then anyway. That is to say if Todoroki even accepts to see him in the first place. Besides, he really would like to make up for what had happened yesterday. He just wants an outside look into the situation, someone who will listen to what he thinks before judging his decision.

Though, he doesn't expect Todoroki to reply to his text any time soon anyway, so until then he's not entirely sure what else to do. He could just continue pacing with the added anxiety of waiting for the other to say something, but that just sounds like a recipe for disaster. Or at the very least for a breakdown. Izuku considers sitting down and flipping through the TV's channels, yet the flashes of last night's dream put him off the idea altogether. The show wasn't even that good anyway, much too predictable and with overused tropes. And he only saw a few episodes.

Izuku puts his phone to his lips, his foot starting to tap in a mix of impatience and nervousness and the movement starts spreading to his hips. The urge to just turn on some music and dance the time away is much too tempting for him to keep entertaining the thought for longer than the few seconds it took for it to form. Uraraka would kill him if he managed to somehow get another injury or make this one worse. Even if his wrist wasn't really even hurting that much anymore and he was pretty sure he could put his weight on it now… Maybe if he just- No, bad idea.

He ends up flopping onto the couch and just staring at the ceiling for the longest time, trying not to think too much about seeing Kacchan again. Izuku is gonna have to do it to tell him what he wants to do about their routine and to practice it. There's an uneasy feeling settling in his gut as soon as he imagines Kacchan's anger over demanding they go with his decisions… His anxiety spikes all over again and he turns on his side with a huff, looking through his phone for anything that might be even remotely distracting.

The little Tetris game he'd downloaded for moments such as these gets boring fast and he goes through all of his social media platforms twice in two minutes before giving up on that as well. He starts mindlessly scrolling down a _Dance News_ feed and stumbles across an article on ballet that catches his attention.

Clicking it, he starts skimming through it, noting that it's about the anniversary of a famous dancer's sudden retirement, another rendition of the show she debuted at to premier in a week's time in her honour. When he comes by this person's picture, his eyes widen slightly. Her snow-white hair is cascading down her shoulders, her warm grey eyes shining brightly with the smile that softens her features.

Suddenly, Todoroki's face pops to the forefront of his mind, the same small but lovely smile, the calm storm in his right eye and the same pale colour of half of his hair. Just like his mother's, he'd said yesterday, his mother who did professional ballet. He doesn't miss the fact that none of the articles mention her as a Todoroki, meaning that her apparently sudden retirement must have happened before his parents got married. Izuku fleetingly wonders what might have pulled her from dancing and looks for answers, finding none whatsoever, which is strange for someone who'd been so distinguished in the past. It was almost as if she simply disappeared from the map.

Still, knowing her name now, Izuku looks for videos of her performances and… Todoroki had said she was beautiful, but Izuku doesn't think that word is nearly enough to describe it. From the little he finds, he is nearly moved to tears by the emotions that exude from her, the sadness, the joy, all of it so open and so surreally honest. He doesn't know why she stopped dancing but he is deeply saddened by the fact that she wasn't any longer. A gift like that was meant to be shared and Izuku is torn by the grief of what might have stopped her from doing it so young.

He is interrupted by the pop-up notification of a text blinking to life at the top of his screen and he taps it open while wiping at his eyes with his free hand, the stress induced butterflies swarming back to his stomach as soon as he sees it. The short exchange that follows has his heart hammering in his chest, especially with this newly acquired information about Todoroki's mother and how he had no idea why such talent had just dropped off the face of the earth without warning. He knows he shouldn't pry but that doesn't make him any less curious and he's already gnawing on his bottom lip thinking he'll have to keep this discovery to himself, at least for now. After all, it has nothing to do with why he wants to talk to Todoroki and it's also none of his business to be asking about his mother.

 **[Todoroki Shouto 06:15 pm]**

 _Somewhat. What do you need?_

 **[Midoriya Izuku 06:16 pm]**

 _U think we cud meet b4 i work?_

 **[Todoroki Shouto 06:17 pm]**

 _Sure. I think I can manage. Where to?_

Knowing that most small shops would be closing soon, Izuku suggest a _Starbucks_ for convenience and Todoroki requests it be one near where he lives which is fine with Izuku. It just so happens that it's not that far from _Erasure_ either and he can just go from one place to the other. But that would mean he has to get dressed for work before leaving, and so he tells Todoroki that's okay and that he'll try to meet him in fifty minutes to allow himself enough time to get ready. As it turns out Todoroki still needs to shower himself, so it's just as well.

Izuku puts on his usual work outfit: dark jeans and a navy-blue button up with a black vest over it. He would've worn a tie too, if not for the fact that he couldn't tie one if his life depended on it, no matter how many instructional videos on it he watched. He hopes it's not too much to meet with Todoroki, but then again, it's not like he has much of a choice. He grabs his keys and wallet, checks if his phone is also in his pocket about three times, and walks out.

When he gets to their meeting point, Izuku spots Todoroki talking to Yaoyorozu who looks like she's about to leave when she turns around and sees him. Her jaw drops a little for a fraction of a second before she pulls it back, a sly grin spreading across her lips, and she walks past him with a polite greeting, leaving Izuku and Todoroki to watch her go. He glances back to Todoroki and his mismatched eyes are fixated on him, burrowing holes into him that feel like they open a window straight to his soul and Izuku feels exposed, scrutinised. He shifts from one foot to another.

"Um, hello Todoroki-san."

Todoroki blinks a couple of times and clears his throat, looking away as he holds the door open for Izuku with a nod of his head. Izuku gets in line and Todoroki is quick to join him, running a hand through his still damp hair while gazing at him from the corner of his left eye.

"You look nice. How is your hand?"

Izuku feels the tinge of a blush dust over his cheeks at both the compliment and the concern. He mumbles out a word of thanks and scratches at his face awkwardly, saying that he's pretty sure he's already healed, just trying to be careful in case it isn't. He's gotten worse injuries before, not that any of them stopped him for long. He was always a pretty quick healer.

Todoroki nods wordlessly, shoving his hands in his pockets as they wait their turn. Izuku's already pulled out his wallet by the time they get to the front of the line, refusing to have Todoroki pay for it again when he notices that he was getting his too.

"Black again?"

"God no. I'll have a caramel Frap if that's okay."

Pulling his brows together curiously, Izuku asks for a White Mocha and a brownie for himself to get him through, not only the night, but the conversation that's about to happen. As soon as he gets the courage to start it, that is… He asks if Todoroki would like anything else but he politely declines so he pays for everything and they wait for their coffee to be ready.

"Black coffee and a caramel Frap. Are your tastes as contrasting as your hair colours or is this just an exception?"

Izuku tries to break the ice, a wobbly smile tugging at his lips as he hopes he's not being too forward. Todoroki exhales a little harder than usual, which Izuku takes as somewhat of a laugh and a corner of his mouth twitches upwards slightly.

"I hate black coffee." Todoroki says simply, leaving Izuku with just as many questions as before. "I've got a bit of a sweet tooth, actually."

"Really?"

Todoroki smiles for a moment at the surprise in his voice, nodding in confirmation but not offering anything further. Izuku guesses that must mean the last time he was really dead tired to order something he hated the taste of and finds himself smiling bashfully as well. It's still a little hard to believe that Todoroki couldn't sleep because of him, he doesn't think he'll ever actually trust that statement.

With their order up, they find a spot for them to sit and Izuku checks the time to make sure he's not yet at risk of running late. Now that Izuku knows Todoroki doesn't like black coffee, he sees the difference between his reaction to the two beverages. While before he'd simply swallowed it down as quickly as possible, now he seemed to take his time to savour it, much more relaxed.

"How was practice?"

"Exhausting." Todoroki sighs, bringing a hand up to rub at his temple. "But I'm going to assume you didn't text me just to ask me that?"

Izuku sputters slightly, unsure of how Todoroki can read him so easily after just a few days of really getting to know each other. To stop himself from blurting everything out in one go, his muttering tendencies already threatening to make themselves known, he shoves some of the brownie into his mouth. He chooses to use the time he's chewing to think of how in heavens he's supposed to even begin saying this. Honestly, he should just forget about it and pretend like it was nothing important. He can do this, he doesn't need anyone's advice or reassurance…

The cold feeling returns with a personal vendetta, almost making him feel sick from how many knots it twists his stomach into. He can do this, right?

"Is everything alright? If you need my help for anything, I'm willing to try." Todoroki pulls him from his thoughts before he has a chance to get lost in them and he looks into his concerned eyes.

"Yeah, I'd… I'd like your advice on something."

Izuku starts fidgeting with his paper cup and Todoroki leans closer, tilting his head to one side in curiosity. He gestures with his head for him to go on and Izuku shrinks a little, looking around the room and pulling his bottom lip between his teeth. He really needs to get rid of this nervous habit, especially when he neglects to use any lip balm to deal with the damage.

"Is this about your ex?"

Flinching slightly at the bluntness, Izuku nods and lets out a heavy sigh. "I still really want to apologise."

"It's still not your fault. I'm the one who acted out of place."

"You were just being honest."

"It doesn't make it any less intrusive. So, I apologise." Todoroki finishes, his tone telling him that there's no room for discussion and Izuku accepts it. "What is it that you need my advice for?"

He looks down and brings a hand around to rest on the back of his neck, holding back a groan before sitting up straighter and bracing himself to spill the truth. "Okay, so, as I said, Kacchan and I didn't really… End well. I've kind of been avoiding him, if I'm honest, but I can't do that forever, I know that, really, I do. It's just kind of hard to face him when he thinks I had no issues breaking up with him and I'm just…"

Todoroki remains silent, occasionally sipping on his drink, his eyes never leaving his face, which makes Izuku a little more nervous than he already is. When he doesn't continue for a bit, Todoroki encourages him to keep going with a small downward tilt of his head. He needs to just get to the point.

"A-anyway, since Shinsou and the others kind of kicked me off practice and preparations, the majority kind of decided that we should dance together in the flash mob. Ocha says it's a bad idea and so does Shinsou, and honestly, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little scared of what might happen, but the truth is… I feel like I need to do this? If I just keep running away and cowering in fear I'll just be stuck in this endless loop of sorrow and guilt and I won't really ever move on. So, I said I'd do it under the condition that I get to decide what we do and how we do it."

He ends with a trembling breath and Todoroki hums thoughtfully.

"And you're asking me whether I think you should go through with it?" Izuku assents. "Excuse me, but shouldn't you be talking to someone who's more familiar with the situation?"

The raised eyebrow over Todoroki's scarred eye is almost accusatory, even though Izuku knows for a fact that's not his intention from the way he said it, just a purely curious request to satisfy his mild confusion. Still, he can't help but feel embarrassed when faced with the question, scratching at his flushing cheek timidly.

"Ah, actually… I already said that Shinsou and Ocha are kind of against it, and all the others voted on us dancing together, so really… I want a fresh perspective, an unbiased opinion."

"I don't like him."

Well, that's… Brutally honest. Izuku stares for a few heartbeats as his brain gets the memo to finally speak again. "That's just… That's because you don't really know him, no one who doesn't know him likes him."

"Uraraka and this Shinsou don't seem to like him."

"But they're my closest friends." Izuku tries to justify himself.

"You're not helping your case."

He really isn't, huh? "Well," he chuckles with no real humour and shakes his head in shame "this was stupid, just forget I said anything."

"No, wait, I want to help. Let me see if I understand." Todoroki brings the drink to his lips again, deep in thought as he does. "They want you to dance with someone you've just had a bad break up with for a promotional flash mob. Your closest friends think it's a bad idea and you're scared of the consequences but you still want to do this?"

"When you put it like _that_ …"

Izuku mutters under his breath, hearing how utterly idiotic his reasoning really sounds. The other leans back against his chair with a click of his tongue, crossing his arms over his chest and humming again.

"First, tell me what _you_ really think."

His mouth falls open a little, no words coming out as he simply gawks. He wasn't expecting that. Usually his friends all had a lot to say when it came to his relationship with Kacchan, one way or another, no matter the situation always offering their opinions whether or not he actually asked for them. And more often than not, they'd just tell him what they thought regardless of what he said.

"I…" Izuku avoids Todoroki's intense gaze, taking another glance at his phone for the time. That and to take a moment to gather his scrambled thoughts. "Kacchan… I've never loved anyone before him. Breaking up with him was one of the hardest things I've ever done but I know for a fact that it was the best thing for both of us. That being said…" Izuku's throat is starting to close but he swallows around the lump that's formed there. "I still find myself wanting to try again. And that's what's been keeping me from getting anywhere. I avoid him because I'm scared I'll succumb to that desire."

He pauses for a breath, his hands trembling slightly. Should he really be saying this? For all intents and purposes, he and Todoroki just met, their relationship is nowhere near the point of spilling such heavy baggage.

"Do you think things will change if you two get back together? Do you think you'll be happy with him?"

"No…"

"Do you think you're weak?"

Izuku blinks the prickling tears away before they have a chance to spill. "No." His voice might be shaking the tiniest bit, but that one word is as unwavering as the resolve within him. Weak is something Izuku never was, and it's something he will never be, no matter how many doubts he may have from time to time.

"Good. I don't think you are either. And if you think this is what you need to do to move on, I fully support that decision. You should trust yourself a little more, Midoriya, you didn't need me to tell you something you already know."

Looking up from the table, Izuku locks his gaze with Todoroki's. The other is contemplating him with a calm stare, his expression not really giving anything away except for his eyes. They shine with something that Izuku can't quite place but makes him feel a little more confident, they're inviting, comforting. A shy smile dances on Izuku's lips and he turns away once more, a light flush making a home on his cheeks.

"Thank you."

* * *

Izuku is stretching on the floor, light chatter going on around him as the ones present discuss their own ideas for certain steps on the group routine that he'll comment on when he sees fit. He discussed his conditions with them as soon as he arrived, already having decided on a song and going through steps in his mind to build the routine itself.

All he has to do now is tell the one person who is the most likely to disagree and get angry at him for deciding this on his own. Considering how things went down, Kacchan might feel justified in saying that, if anything, it should be him making conditions, since Izuku was the one to break up with him in the first place.

Uraraka is going through some specifications with Camie and Ashido on the routine they're doing together but she'll steal glances at Izuku at any chance she gets. He makes a point of smiling and waving at her every time their eyes meet and she returns it, yet the worry is more than evident in her expression, no matter how hard she tries to mask it. It was a bit unnerving, but Izuku swallows his anxiety and keeps stretching.

The loud thud of a bag hitting the varnished floors draws Izuku's attention to the entrance. His breath catches in his throat at the sight of spiked blonde hair and he goes back to lay his head on his knee as he pulls on his foot. He squeezes his eyes shut when he hears the stomping steps going right past him, heart beating loud and hard in his ears.

 _Can't run and hide forever. Come on, Izuku, you can do this._

He gets to his feet, gingerly stepping up behind Kacchan and not exactly sure how to get his attention. He could call his name but his tongue feels heavy in his mouth and he can't bring himself to form any words. He could poke his shoulder but that felt like almost literally poking a very angry bear and he didn't want to have his head chewed off. He could clear his throat but that was just as hard as saying something and probably would have the same effect as the poke.

"What the fuck is it Deku?" Kacchan growls and Izuku flinches, jumping slightly as he snaps back from his inner struggle.

"I-I-"

" _I-I-_ what? Just fucking spill it before I kill you."

"I'll dance with you." Deep red eyes are suddenly staring into his and Izuku stumbles backwards, getting some distance between them as his heart beats harder still. "B-but only if… If I get to decide how and to what. Everyone else is fine with it…"

Kacchan crosses his arms, eyes narrowing and mouth stretching into a cocky smirk that still doesn't fail to make Izuku stop breathing for a second. "Hah? Deku? Making demands? After what you did? After bringing that bastard here too."

Izuku looks away for a second, shame ghosting past his features until he reminds himself that he did nothing wrong and takes a deep breath. He faces Kacchan once more, standing a little straighter and making a point of not biting his lip.

"Yes. If you don't want that then I'm sure Camie or Ashido will be more than happy to dance with you instead."

"Fine."

"What." Izuku sputters, not at all expecting that response, much less so calmly. "I… You're not fighting me on this?"

The other shrugs, grinning all over again. Izuku sees something in his eyes, it's there for barely even a second and it's gone as soon as he spots it, not nearly enough time for him to identify it. Behind that smug mask he puts on, it's so hard to read what's really going on inside his head. Izuku would pay to know what the hell he's thinking, because whatever it is, it's making him uneasy.

"We can dance whatever you damn want. Just make sure it's worth my fucking time." He turns his back to Izuku and begins the stretching exercises.

Blinking stupidly, Izuku steps back, something dark hanging over his head at how easy that was. There's something off, Kacchan should have disagreed, he should have been angry about not being allowed to make any decisions on the essence of the routine. It shouldn't have been so easy. But it was… And Izuku should be happy, right? It went better than he expected.

Then why does he feel like there's something very wrong about it?

 **NOTE:** ***dead ass rolls in*  
**

 **It's 3am**

 **I finished this chapter!**

 **Hope you enjoyed it despite my sleep deprived extra self insisting on doing it all in one sitting pfft**

 **As always, feel free to leave any feedback you may have! PS: Actual dancing will resume soon! (I think)**


	11. Chapter 11

**NOTE:** ***Eminem's Without Me starts playing* Guess who's back, back again!**

 **Okay, but really, I've been SO BUSY LATELY! And I think all the stress kind of made me have writer's block for all of my longer wips so you have no idea how good it feels to finally get this chapter done!**

 **I hope you enjoy it cus I'm really happy with how it turned out despite the struggle ^-^**

Izuku stumbles backwards, doing several takes of Kacchan's back as he slowly steps away and walks over to the other side of the room. He finds that now is as good a time as any to get more acquainted with the group routines they've decided to do. He'd asked Jirou for the set-list they'd agreed upon, with the added change of the song he wanted for his and Kacchan's own part. The other songs are a bit off-kilter with his own, but Jirou said that it wasn't a problem. She's more than capable of making a mix that'll work with all of them, even if she has to break his off with a transition. It wouldn't have been the first time they'd done something similar anyway.

But no matter how hard he tries to focus on what everyone else is saying, Izuku can't stop his eyes from drifting back to Kacchan, catching him staring intensely on more than one occasion and not even making an effort to hide it. He can feel nervousness creeping up just underneath his skin, making him itch slightly and distracting him to the point that Uraraka has to call is name multiple times before he even registers that someone is trying to get his attention. He may as well not mean his apologies at all because as soon as they start talking again, he goes right back to hardly catching anything.

With a shaky sigh, he excuses himself and just stalks over to Kacchan, figuring that he has to get over this already instead of just letting anxiety eat at him. He's probably overthinking things anyway. He's always overthinking everything.

"Kacchan."

He turns back to Izuku with a hum, eyes drifting from his face to further down before trailing back up, something ghosting past them in a fraction of a second that is once again gone before he can make sense of it. It's unbearable to not be able to glean anything from him, how closed off he's purposefully made himself so that he has no idea what he's thinking or why. Izuku still feels awful, being this close still hurts more than anything he's ever felt before, but he pushes past all the ache so that he can finally start healing.

"How's your wrist?" Kacchan whispers, jaw tense, and Izuku is once again knocked sideways, instinctively reaching for that arm and looking away.

"It's okay, I think…"

"That's good…" Kacchan pauses, clicking his tongue while he runs a hand through his spiked hair before crossing his arms over his chest, lips pulling into a taut line that Izuku always thought made him look cute rather then stubborn. "I didn't mean to hurt you."

Izuku's heart is beating impossibly hard in his chest and he swallows around the lump that's formed in his throat. He needs to stop these butterflies from fluttering in his stomach each time he feels the heat from Kacchan's skin so close, to stop this itch inside him to reach out and touch him. Taking a deep breath and closing his eyes for a moment Izuku wills himself to get his feelings under control.

"Yeah, but you did." He murmurs, rubbing at the previously injured spot with a sigh. "What's done is done, I don't break that easily… Most of the time."

With a hand running through his unruly locks, Izuku exhales shakily, masking it as a short laugh as he looks away. He hears Kacchan stepping closer, feels his hand hovering over his arm without it actually touching him and his mind grinds to a halt, body locking in place so that he doesn't do something he might regret later.

The whole room seems to fade away for a split second that lasts a lifetime, the chatter from his friends' discussions growing distant, the squeaking of shoes on the polished pavement nothing but an occasional bleep that breaks through the barrier that's suddenly built around them. Izuku turns to Kacchan, his face so close that he can almost feel his breath brush against his cheeks and he shudders. His fingers twitch, a movement that's barely even there, but his fingertips lightly touch the back of Kacchan's hand and he immediately pulls his own back, straightening his posture and turning the other way.

It feels like his heart is drumming against his ribcage, painfully in a way, and he instinctively rubs his chest in a futile attempt to ease that dull ache, make it stop this urgent pitter-patter. Izuku takes another deep breath, clenching his fists and thinking back to the day before. He needs to believe in himself a little more, isn't that what Todoroki told him? He doesn't need someone's affirmation, he can do this.

"I think we should talk about our set and maybe start practicing it."

"I've just been waiting for you to say that."

Izuku nods more to himself than to Kacchan, trying to detach himself a little from the situation. _Focus, get lost in the technicality for a moment, you can worry about feeling later._

"Okay so…" He skips over to the other side of the room to quickly grab his phone where he's been adding notes ever since that morning and walks back to where Kacchan is waiting for him, arms crossed over his chest and with his default displeased grimace. Izuku ignores his face and looks instead at his screen. "First, I want to do this song." He shows him his phone so that he can look at the highlighted track in his playlist, opening another tab to show the specific part he wants to dance to, the other's lips turning down a little further.

"What's that supposed to fucking mean?"

Izuku fights back the urge to roll his eyes, finding some solace that at least he's reacting in a way he predicted he would, finally. He isn't used to not knowing what Kacchan plans to do, usually so in tune with his boy- _ex-boyfriend_ that he can almost finish his angry explosions for him inside his head.

"Whatever you want it to mean, that's what this is about. I'm working through my feelings, is that so wrong? I wish you could do the same."

Kacchan hums, shifting his weight to another foot before letting out a huff of a breath and running a hand through his hair, messing it up slightly. "I already _know_ how I feel, Deku."

"So do I. I just want to make peace with it." The words come out a little faster than he can process them, but Izuku finds that they're nothing but the truth. "I never meant to hurt you either, Kacchan. And I know I did, and I'm sorry, okay? But this is how things are now."

Stepping closer still, Kacchan reaches for him, stopping just short of touching him and turning his back to him with an exasperated grunt. Izuku suddenly becomes aware of how quiet the room is, the subtle stares on them, taking one quick glance around the room and seeing heads snap in another direction, only a couple pairs of eyes staying on him. Uraraka and Shinsou nod his way, a silent question hanging between them, and Izuku shakes his side with small smile that may look a little sadder than he means it to. After one long heartbeat, they go back to their own conversations, the murmur of everyone's voices blending together as the moment passes just as quickly as it had begun.

"Kacchan…" Izuku whispers shyly, getting a grunt in response.

Kacchan moves towards the centre of the room, staring back at him when he doesn't make to follow and startling him back into motion. Everyone starts getting out of their way when Izuku goes up to Jirou and asks her to set the speakers to the spot displayed on his phone just for as long as he can show the steps he's already thought up.

When Izuku gets to Kacchan, the other steps aside, arms back over his chest, watching him closely. He feels like shrinking under that gaze but sucks in a calming breath instead, stretching his arms one last time before gesturing to Jirou that he's ready and closing his eyes. He doesn't think about anything or anyone, wills himself to forget anything exists but himself and the music and gets lost in it, letting his body respond of its own accord to the flow of the notes. Izuku was planning on closing his feelings off for this, thinking that it was the only way to distance himself from Kacchan for just as long as they had to go through it, but it's just him for now.

 _There's no one else here, it's just you and the song, the instruments, the melody, the voice._

He feels the music in his veins, flowing through him like the blood his heart keeps pumping and he only comes back to reality when he bends backwards and he twists onto his knees. He opens his eyes and sees everyone else's on him, Kacchan included, his mouth pulled to a thin line and his knuckles white as he holds onto his arms tightly. The music keeps playing in the background for a few moments longer until Jirou actually gathers her wits and presses stop.

Slowly getting back to his feet Izuku is self-conscious of the way the others are looking at him, thinking he may have done something wrong without even realising it when he got so in tune with the feel of the harmony. Kacchan walks up to him, instructing him to do the same thing he did and tells Jirou to start the music from the beginning.

Izuku obliges, feeling Kacchan's presence just a little off to the side behind him and this time he keeps his eyes open. He watches him from the corner of his eye, catching sight of him when he twists and turns and being mesmerised by the grace of his movements, as always. And when the song comes to the point where he'd stopped before, suddenly the steps come to him without warning and he keeps going. He twirls towards him, thoughts all but gone as he gets to one knee, until Kacchan moves to wrap a hand around his waist and Izuku startles backwards, alarms going off in his brain.

 _Too close, too close!_

His heart is beating hard in his ears, muffling the music that stops soon after while the others gather around them, wonder and excitement shining in some of their eyes.

"That was amazing!" Ashido exclaims.

"It doesn't really go with the other songs though, does it? I guess you did mention that." Kirishima hums in thought, scratching his chin.

"But maybe we could make it work?" The former shouts back, bouncing excitedly. "Let's make it into a story!"

"That's not a terrible idea."

"It could be interesting to try and make sets with a meaning."

"Straight up, fam."

"It could be a conversation between lovers!"

"Is that… Wise…" Uraraka finally makes herself heard after Ashido's outburst, stealing a glance at Izuku, who's breaths are slowly becoming harsher at the thought.

"Past lovers." Shinsou interrupts the babble. "Make it the battle between two points of view on a relationship that doesn't work. And this is how it ends."

"Oh! I like that!"

Kacchan scoffs and rolls his eyes, but his reaction goes unnoticed as the others start chattering enthusiastically, throwing ideas into the air.

"I might have a few songs that could work with that, I could stitch them together nicely, with a little remixing here and there."

"Anyone got any objections to Shinsou's suggestion?" Ashido doesn't leave any time for anyone to actually say anything, shouting "Then it's settled" before they can even open their mouths. But from the look on everyone's faces, they seem pretty into the new idea, the conversation getting away from Izuku as he just looks towards Shinsou with as much gratitude in his gaze as he can muster.

The only person who seems to have some qualms with this new development is standing with fists clenched at his sides, looking about ready to blow up when Izuku comes closer. His head snaps towards him and he opens his mouth, most likely with an angry remark at the tip of his tongue but he bites it back and just snaps his jaw shut with a loud click. Izuku brings a hand up to rub at his neck, sighing heavily.

"I-"

"Just don't." Kacchan snaps, making him flinch. "I don't care what they wanna do. I couldn't care less. There's only one thing I want and this isn't gonna change anything."

Izuku averts his gaze, biting his lip nervously and humming. He wants to reach out and comfort him, like he'd done so many times before, but he's aware that the reason for Kacchan's pain is him and he'd be lying if he said it doesn't hurt him just as much. But there's nothing he can do about it except keep moving forward, and this is just the first step in a long and arduous road.

* * *

Shouto is about to crash into bed, exhausted after another tiring day of practice and feeling his muscles aching from all the strain he's been putting on them, when his phone buzzes loudly on his nightstand as soon as his head hits the pillow. He looks at the time and frowns, seeing it's far too early to be this done with the world of the living, then reaches to look at the notification. The corners of his mouth twitch involuntarily at the name displayed but when he actually opens the text his expression morphs instead to one of confused concern.

 **[Midoriya Izuku 06:34 pm]**

 _So um… recnt dvlpmnt. Ders been a chng of plans 2 the mob…_

Rubbing at his eyes, Shouto asks him if they're good or bad changes, getting a very cryptic 'I'm not sure' that in no way eases his worries. Midoriya goes on a bit of a rant about what happened through the following texts, a rush of misspelled words that give Shouto a tiny headache to decipher but he eventually gets the gist of it, thinking of what he should or shouldn't say.

He settles for a short text saying that it doesn't sound so bad given the theme and the other immediately agrees, going then on another rant about how during practice he kept getting drawn to his ex. Shouto does his best to ignore the uncomfortable feeling that suddenly settles in his chest at the words, not really knowing what to make of it just like the first time Midoriya talked in length about his previous relationship. He attributes his distaste for the situation to the fact that the other seemed much too kind to be with someone as disagreeable as that Bakugou. That and the parallels he draws between him and his father, knowing he shouldn't project his personal feelings onto Midoriya but having a hard time not doing it anyway.

Still, as long as he can rationalise his emotions, he can keep his cool, thankful that Yaoyorozu had made him see the error of his actions, or rather, how to prevent them from happening again. So, with a deep breath and after he's sure Midoriya's wave of rambles is done, he says the only thing he can think of that might be reassuring to him.

 **[Todoroki Shouto 06:51 pm]**

 _Remember what you told me yesterday. You can get through it._

 _-delivered-_

He doesn't get a reply for a while and his eyes start to droop closed, his fatigue finally catching up to him and making his body feel heavier by the second. The vibrations of his phone right next to his face startle him from the limbo between slumber and wakefulness, his heart beating a little too fast for comfort and he shakily reaches for the device as his body calms down.

 **[Midoriya Izuku 07:00 pm]**

 _Ur right. Sry 2 dump dis al on u._

 **[Todoroki Shouto 07:04 pm]**

 _It's fine, I'm happy to listen to anything you have to say. You'll have to excuse me, however, I think I'll need to sleep now. I'm feeling especially drained today._

 _-delivered-_

Shouto is sluggish, his vision blurring as he sees Midoriya's reply wishing him a restful sleep, adding a thank you after that he's already too far gone to actually take note of. The conversation, as brief as it may have been, seemed to leave a lasting impression, images of Midoriya twisting and turning around him only to fall into the arms of that angry blonde weaving in his dreams. The guy's mouth twists into an arrogant smirk that seems all too fitting even if he's never seen him wear it, one that looks strikingly similar to the one's he's seen on Enji time and time again. When he wakes in the middle of the night sweating and burning with ill-tamed ire, Shouto has a hard time falling back asleep.

Over the course of the next few days, he finds himself a little more irritable than usual and not entirely sure why. He snaps at Yaoyorozu a couple of times, but she sees the tension in his shoulders and takes it in stride, rubbing his back reassuringly as he cools down from the momentary outburst and feels the guilt settling right after, apologising profusely. She just smiles at him, sympathy painted in her features.

These feelings don't seem to lessen as time goes by and he notes that they seem to intensify whenever Midoriya texts him with more tales from his practices that mention 'Kacchan' and whatever they do together. He knows he shouldn't feel this way, that it makes absolutely no sense that the simple name of a person he's only encountered once would make his blood boil without a discernible reason for it.

Shouto tries to understand why this keeps happening, always coming up with the same answer and figuring it must be the truth. Though he can't stop this feeling from spreading through his veins unwarranted, even if he knows very well that he shouldn't meddle in other people's lives and it's really none of his business. Besides, Midoriya keeps talking to him, telling him about his insecurities but always ending up more determined than when he started with Shouto hardly saying anything. It's almost as though he only needs someone to talk to himself through and it's somewhat amusing, but Shouto doesn't get to appreciate that in the midst of the coiling irritation every time he sees 'Kacchan' and reads about what Midoriya has to say about him.

And he only seems to come to a conclusion after the day of Midoriya's flash mob comes. He is busy with practice so he was sure he was going to miss it, only hearing about it from him after the fact per his request. They were going to have someone film it, since it was a promotional stunt to begin with, and Midoriya assured him that he'd give him the video whenever it was ready.

As it turns out, since he was focused on his and Yaoyorozu's own practice, he completely missed the texts Midoriya sent him saying there'd been yet another change of plans, this one to the time and location, and he only sees it as he's already stepping outside to wait for his partner. Yaoyorozu usually takes a lot longer than him in the locker rooms, but this time she sprints out mere moments after, just as Shouto is checking his phone and he hears some music he doesn't recognise starting to play. She grabs his hand before he even has the chance to finish reading, pulling him towards the plaza in front of their studio's building with an excited squeal that he can only make sense of when he sees Midoriya waving at him from the back of a particular group.

He starts waving back but then his attention gets snagged by the five at the front, Bakugou dead centre, with Kirishima and a blonde girl he doesn't recognise on each side of him, Kaminari and Sero behind them and between the other three. Bakugou's posture exudes arrogance as he starts moving in time with the song, but as soon as the starting beat hits, his movements are sure and precise, fast-paced but fluid. Shouto would be lying if he said he didn't capture the crowd's attention, some 'whoops' and cheers already rolling around as he the two at the back break off and leave him with Kirishima and the girl to roll their bodies rapidly and they, too, move away soon after. The choreography is eye-catching, filled with quick steps and turns, powerful locks, and Bakugou never once leaves room for a single mistake as he jumps around with all the others.

The music starts to shift slightly as they reach the end of their set, softening and blending with another before all five of them finish with their arms open, that smug look on Bakugou's face as he spots him and aims it right at him then turning his back to the growing crowd riling him up. Shouto feels his anger spark but is quickly distracted by a long dark-haired woman with a camera pointing it towards Uraraka with Ashido and Shinsou beside her once the music fully transitions. It's a completely different song now, that somehow managed to blend with the alterations added to both this and the previous and Shouto has to admire the craftsmanship of the DJ.

He lets go of his annoyance the moment they start moving in unison, hands reaching up before they all bend forward and shoot back up. This choreography feels a lot heavier, the tone of the song and the drama behind each movement a lot more heartfelt. Shouto finds himself appreciating this set a lot more, thinking the hint of satisfaction due to the fact that despite Bakugou's amazing technique he lacks in some departments should surprise him, but doesn't.

The two others leave Uraraka and Shouto sees Midoriya approach from behind her, his heart skipping a beat as soon as his arms wrap around his friend at how wonderfully tragic the scene feels even if it's only just begun. That sensation is only intensified when she turns and jumps into his arms. They dance like they're one, melting into each other beautifully, Uraraka looking almost ethereal when Midoriya picks her up below the arms and turns her around. The way he holds on to her after she's back on her feet breaks Shouto's heart so sweetly he almost wants to keep living the moment forever, especially since Midoriya is suddenly replaced by the other two. The emotion in all of their movements is so powerful that Shouto feels short for breath, watching Uraraka bend her body down on the floor and raise back up as the music once again shifts.

Ashido and Shinsou step out to give way to Midoriya and Bakugou and there's suddenly an uncomfortable itch just below Shouto's skin. All three of them move together, turning quickly despite the soft and slow melody of the singer's voice. This set is filled with intricate twirls, matched with somewhat quick steps and evoking an imagery of inner turmoil, the twists and turns of their bodies mimicking that of a mind struggling with the grief of a loss. It's over almost as quickly as it begins, Uraraka lowering herself to the ground and moving away to leave Midoriya and Bakugou standing, the latter just a little further back to the left as the harmony blends into yet another song. Almost as if sensing the seriousness settling in the atmosphere the crowd grows completely silent.

 _This is it._ Shouto's heart gets stuck in his throat as soon as they step forward together, his eyes focusing on Midoriya but unable to block out the blonde behind him. Even apart and with different emotional cues to their movements, they're so in sync it's impossible to deny the feeling of closeness between them. The low dip of Bakugou's body is almost reminiscent of submission in comparison to the way Midoriya carries himself in the turn of his own, both flowing into the next steps so effortlessly Shouto's breath hitches. The split second those two face each other makes his heart sink, and when Midoriya drops to his knees as the song hits a particular note, moving towards Bakugou soon after in a couple of turns he feels it break.

The pieces scatter further when Bakugou pushes Midoriya's back to the ground and flips beside him, and when they dance towards each other, hips rolling and those crimson eyes roaming Midoriya's body, Shouto feels sick. They're beautiful. They're poetry, they're prose, they're an epic love story that ends in tragedy but leaves one wanting more. Midoriya's hand is on Bakugou's chest now, and he rolls down to the floor, his body language reading agony and Shouto feels it when the other's hand is on him as he kneels beside him. They're inches apart when they lift themselves back up and Shouto can almost see their breaths mingling, can almost sense how much Midoriya wants to close the short distance between them.

And then he pushes Bakugou away to slide down on the smooth pavement and stands tall before him, turning his back on him as he gets back to his feet and follows, Midoriya's knees giving and it feels so realistic that Shouto almost reaches out to him. Bakugou holds on to his shoulders when he raises from the ground as well, the song giving its last notes, and Shouto feels like it'll end there but Midoriya turns out of his hold instead, the music fading to silence as he walks away.

The crowd erupts into applause and excited cheering but it's all drowned out by the volume of Shouto's heart beating in his ears, his eyes fixated on the blonde standing alone in the centre of the plaza, head hanging low and chest heaving with the effort of the routines. He feels Yaoyorozu tug at his arm and point towards Midoriya approaching them. Shouto has to will his mind to move away from how well Bakugou and Midoriya worked together, how they seemed to click like two pieces of the same puzzle, has to ignore the sinking feeling it leaves in his gut.

He sees that Midoriya is crying when he approaches them and immediately feels his body reaching for him of its own accord, stopping short of actually touching him or even pulling him into his arms like he suddenly realises he wants to do. Shouto asks if he's okay, Yaoyorozu mirroring his words at the same time and Midoriya responds with a wet laugh and a weak nod of his head.

"Sorry, I get emotional when dancing sometimes and… That one was very personal…" He wipes at his eyes with the back of his arm, Shouto watching the movement and stopping his thoughts before they linger on Midoriya's words and start inferring their meaning. "What did you think?"

"That was wonderful, Midoriya-san. All of the sets were beautiful but that last one," She wipes at the corner of her eye too "it was breath-taking…"

"Thank you…" He smiles softly, a hint of a flush dusting over his cheeks and he turns his wet eyes towards Shouto, tearing the ground right from beneath his feet with that look alone. "And you, Todoroki-san, did you like it?"

"It was amazing."

He admits with a strangled voice, that itch he felt only getting worse when Midoriya gets called away and excuses himself with a small satisfied grin standing way too close to his ex and even directing a few words at him as well. When he places a hand on his arm for a mere few seconds to say something before moving elsewhere to talk with both Jirou and the woman who had been filming, Shouto feels bile rising up in his throat. The sickening feeling worsens when he locks eyes with Bakugou and the other smirks arrogantly at him, much like he had at the beginning of the whole flash mob.

Shouto's fury burns deep within him and he clenches his fists. That's when it finally dawns on him what's happening, why he's been feeling this annoyed and quick to anger lately. Jaw tensed he calls Yaoyorozu.

"Momo…" She hums as she turns to him, seeing him staring intensely at the blonde and the way he's looking at Midoriya, like _he's a prize he just won_. "It's just like that."

 **NOTE: FINALLY! One Todoroki Shouto finally knows! As always, links to choreographies will be on my profile page! I should say that uni is being really tough on me lately, so updates might be sluggish until I can finally dig myself out of this pile of work! But fear not! This story is not forgotten!** **As always, feel free to leave any feedback you may have and thank you for reading! ^-^**


	12. Chapter 12

Shouto's skin is crawling. He watches as Kirishima throws an arm over Bakugou with a broad grin, telling him something, before ruffling his spiked hair and the blond shoves him, his eyes once again landing on Midoriya as he replies with a smirk stretching over his lips. Shouto feels sick, he feels absolutely disgusted by the way he's staring, like he's some _thing_ for him to win and show off, taking away everything that makes Midoriya amazing and reducing him to some sort of trophy. He hates it, wants to make it stop with every fibre of his being, that leering, that hungry gaze. It doesn't belong on Midoriya's back, anywhere near him, really.

Without thinking, Shouto's feet take him forward before he has the chance to stop himself, leaving Yaoyorozu behind with a confused call of his name he doesn't fully register. He places himself between Midoriya and Bakugou, blocking his line of sight and stopping those _revolting_ looks from reaching Midoriya at all, taking the brunt of them for him.

Midoriya tenses when Shouto approaches, the awkward and almost uneasy way he was shifting from one foot to another ceasing all of a sudden before he turns around to face him. As soon as his eyes land on Shouto, it's as if a giant weight is lifted off his shoulders and his posture relaxes entirely, an easy smile making its home on his face, freckles bouncing up with the movement.

Shouto's heart skips a beat at the sight, his eyes widening slightly with the sensation. He forgets whatever was going on in his head then, suddenly only leaving room for how painstakingly obvious his feelings are now that he's aware of them, jealousy still bubbling just underneath his skin. The notion that he's very uncomfortable with how hot and itchy it makes him is overwhelming, even more so when he realises how easily he succumbed to it. He's vaguely aware of the glare burning holes into his back and he can't decide whether he feels even worse or satisfied that at least Midoriya doesn't have to deal with it anymore.

"Todoroki-san! Did you want something?" His head tilts curiously, green eyes shining in the dimming daylight, and Shouto chokes on his own tongue, unsure what to say. "Oh, by the way," Midoriya cuts in excitedly, turning to the short woman next to Jirou who is holding on to a camera, "this is Asui Tsuyu, she's the one who films all of our promotional videos! Tsuyu-san, this is Todoroki-san!"

"Midoriya, for the last time, just Tsuyu."

"Sorry, T-Tsuyu." Midoriya rubs at the back of his neck sheepishly, a light flush taking over his features, and Shouto just blinks at him. "Um, anyway, what was it you said you wanted?"

Shouto doesn't mention the fact that he hadn't uttered a single word, instead clearing his throat before turning his gaze towards the ground. "I felt like I had to come here," he says honestly, for a moment wondering if he should have lied, then adding as an afterthought "and I wanted to congratulate you properly. You really did something beautiful…"

Out of the corner of his eye, Shouto sees Midoriya beaming up at him, covering his reddening face with his hands and mumbling into them. "It was really nothing special…"

"Midoriya, you were awesome out there. You gave the music life." Jirou comments, continuing to put her equipment away after playfully pushing his shoulder.

"I can't help but agree. I think I'll take much too long to edit this video because I'll keep watching you."

"Guys," Midoriya whines, making Shouto's stomach flip. "stop, you're embarrassing me… Everyone did a great job, it wasn't just me…"

Shouto looks away, hoping that his cheeks aren't burning as red as he thinks they are from how warm they suddenly feel, the way Midoriya hides behind his arms and starts mumbling into them much too precious for him to handle. Jirou pats his head with a laugh, only serving to make him even more embarrassed and Shouto can't help the corner of his mouth from twitching slightly at the exchange when he catches it on the edge of his field of vision. His heart is threatening to leap right out of his chest. _Did this happen so much before and I'm only now noticing it?_

Jirou turns back to Shouto, nodding at him before calling for his attention.

"We're all going out for drinks to celebrate. You two coming with?"

She asks, one hopeful glance aimed at Yaoyorozu who is now looking at her phone, likely waiting for Shouto to get back. As if sensing their looks, she lifts her gaze, raising one eyebrow at Shouto before she notices the girl waving at her and returns the gesture, though a little jerkier. Fleetingly, Shouto wonders if he was that obvious before. And if he was, how in the ever-living hell did he not realise it?

"Oh, that's a great idea! Would you like to join us? I'm sure you're tired, but we won't keep you long, I swear!"

Midoriya's voice tugs him out of his thoughts and he blinks at him for a moment, unable to resist the sudden urge to stare behind him, to look at Bakugou still talking to Kirishima with his arms crossed over his chest. His arrogant grin is nowhere to be found, replaced instead by an angry scowl that only deepens when his crimson eyes flit towards Shouto and return to the other.

The thought of that guy in close quarters with Midoriya when alcohol is involved suddenly makes Shouto's blood boil all over again. He's overtaken by a need to go with them just so that he can keep Bakugou from getting anywhere near him, thinking that maybe if he'd asked Midoriya out sooner this wouldn't have happened to begin with. As soon as the feeling comes, it dissolves into guilt as Shouto realises that he's acting just like him, possessive and aggressively overbearing. It almost knocks the breath right out of his lungs and he discreetly takes one miniscule step back.

"A-ah, Kacchan's not coming." Midoriya interjects, no doubt noticing the change in his demeanour the moment he looked behind his shoulder, and Shouto turns back to him. "He's got work in the morning."

He tries to ignore the relief he feels, kicking himself at how _wrong_ it is for him to act this way.

"Actually… so do I. Dance practice, I should really rest. Sorry, I'd love to join you but…" He needs some time to sift through these feelings, to reign them in and get them under control. He can't allow himself to devolve into nothing more than what his jealousy makes him and for that he needs to step away from the situation.

Midoriya nods, still smiling but with a hint of disappointment shining in his eyes. "Right, of course. I- _We_ understand. Another time, then?"

Forcing a small smile to his lips, Shouto hums in agreement. He's already turning to leave after bidding them farewell, when he turns to Midoriya once more. "I'll see you soon, I hope?"

With a hint of momentary surprise ghosting over his expression, Midoriya looks down, scratching at his cheek. "Yeah, I'll text you, we can meet for coffee or something."

"Sounds wonderful."

Shouto stalks off, feeling several eyes on his back as he does, the aggression radiating off of two red ones enough to make the hairs on the back of his neck stand. He does his best to stop from turning around and glaring back, from going to Bakugou and giving him a piece of his mind. _I'm better than this. I won't let my anger take control of me._

Yaoyorozu sees him approach, knowing from the look on his face alone that they're leaving and already starting to walk in the direction of their apartment, putting her phone away in her handbag. Once Shouto catches up to her, she looks up at him from under long lashes, her lips pursed as she waits for him to say something. When not a single word sounds from him, she keeps watching the way ahead of them.

"You really went in there like a knight in shining armour, huh?"

"Midoriya doesn't need protecting." The words are out of his mouth before he can process them, such conviction behind them that he suddenly feels a little breathless. He believes what he just said, he knows he does, Yaoyorozu had even said so herself not so long ago. Then why is it that Shouto did _exactly that_? "I protected him."

Shouto narrows his eyes, Yaoyorozu humming beside him. "That you did."

He thinks back to the way Bakugou was watching Midoriya, running a hand through his hair as he feels bile rising up in his throat all over again, his anger threatening to spill. Sucking in a sharp breath, Shouto realises just how much he cares about Midoriya, how much he doesn't want someone to look at him like that and how he's inadvertently acting in a similarly greedy manner, wanting to monopolise the other's attention to himself. Midoriya is more than capable of protecting himself and he's his own person. Shouto has no right to act this way towards him.

"I shouldn't have done that."

"You had the best intentions at heart, I'm s-"

"I didn't. I acted on my own jealousy, that was all." Shouto avoids Yaoyorozu's gaze when she glances at him with surprise in her dark eyes. "I'm an idiot."

"No arguments there. Took you long enough to finally figure it out."

Shouto sighs heavily. "I don't want to screw this up, Momo. I care about him. I've never felt anything like this before…"

Yaoyorozu tucks a lock of hair behind her ear, tapping her chin in thought. "Midoriya-san likes you too."

His head snaps towards her and he almost bumps into someone walking towards them in his distraction, apologising even as the person keeps walking hurriedly away. "Excuse me?"

"It's quite obvious, Shouto, don't give me that look. What will you do about it?"

He can feel her gaze boring down on his neck despite the fact that he's keeping his eyes on what's in front of him now. Shouto considers her words for a few heartbeats, shoving his hands into his pockets, turning his feelings over in his head and trying to make complete sense of them.

He wants to be more than Midoriya's friend, that much is obvious. He wants to protect him even though he knows that Midoriya needs no such thing. Shouto wants to dance with him in his arms, to be a part of his narrative rather than just a by-stander, a person in the audience listening to his captivating storytelling and unable to reach out and interact with the events. He wants to make him happy, to get more of those bright smiles out of him, to make him laugh if he can.

"Nothing." He decides. Yaoyorozu looks at his face for no longer than a second before nodding and turning away. "Not yet."

"Smart decision."

She smiles, leaning into him as they keep walking in silence. Shouto subconsciously does the same, taking some comfort in her warmth by his side, a gentle way she has of supporting him, making him feel less alone. When they finally get home, they each go their separate ways, but not before Yaoyorozu takes his hand for a moment, not before she squeezes it gently and then lets go, offering him another smile. Shouto returns it as best as he can, watching her go to her room as he sinks down into the couch cushions, leaning his head against the backrest and staring up at the ceiling.

He wonders how this newfound knowledge will affect him, if at all. He already felt this way, he just didn't know what it meant, still doesn't, if he's honest. He's not used to these emotions, he hardly knows if this is just a crush or something more. Do people his age even have crushes anymore? Isn't that just a thing that teens go through?

Shouto doesn't have anything to compare this to, no reference point, nothing. He's fond of Yaoyorozu, he can even say he considers Iida a friend. But this is something entirely new – even if he's been unwittingly dealing with it for a while now.

A notification ping jolts him out of his thoughts and he takes out his phone.

 **[Midoriya Izuku 07:57 pm]**

 _-image attached-_

 _Hope nxt time u can join us!_

Shouto smiles at the picture of Midoriya and Uraraka holding up two glasses in cheers and peace signs to the camera. Midoriya's smile is enough to light up the whole living room despite Shouto having the phone's brightness turned down to the lowest setting, and seeing it warms his chest in a way he would have never thought possible. He wonders if it would feel the same were he still blissfully ignorant to his own feelings, if he would perhaps feel more at ease replying with 'Me too' and if the swarm of butterflies in his chest would have still fluttered up a storm.

He never thought typing an emoji could be so strenuous for his heart as he tells Midoriya 'goodnight'.

* * *

"Is that… a smiley face? Ocha, I swear I'm not that drunk yet, I just had one drink." Izuku stares at his phone for a while, rubbing at his eyes as Uraraka looks over his shoulder to do the same.

"Yeah, that's definitely a smiley face. Not a winky face though, you're not quite to second base yet."

With an exaggerated eyeroll, Izuku shoves her back with his elbow and earns himself a giggle out of his best friend. "Hilarious. It's just weird, he never sends those, it's always just perfect spelling and grammatically correct sentences."

"Well maybe he just felt like it this time. Or maybe he likes you. You know, like I've been telling you he does ever since the first night."

Izuku can't help but blush at the comment, ready to dismiss it with a half-hearted retort but getting cut off by the image of Todoroki's displeasure when he glanced back at Kacchan when Izuku mentioned going out with everyone. He would've reasoned away that expression with the fact that Todoroki had expressly told him that Kacchan wasn't one of his favourite people. But the tension visibly leaving his body when Izuku said he wouldn't be here even as he knew he would be refusing the offer… That wasn't so easily explained.

His chest flutters at the memory of the hopeful glint in Todoroki's eye when he asked Izuku if they'd be meeting in the near future, the small, barely-there smile that quirked his lips upward when he answered. Izuku would have liked to be able to say that the flush growing deeper on his cheeks was due to alcohol, but that would be fooling himself. There's a face filling his thoughts, one that's been a constant ever since that fateful night at the club and the phantom crimson eyes he feels on the back of his head are what makes him think he should stop.

He can't deny his feelings and he's running out of ways to deny Todoroki's, but Izuku isn't ready... He is nowhere near ready. He managed to walk away today even though that unbearable craving for Kacchan's lips almost knocked the breath right out of him for the agonising heartbeats he felt it. He managed to go through and walk away from that blissful feeling of dancing with Kacchan in front of a crowd, of having so many eyes on them and yet feeling like there's no one else but them, nothing more than his hands, his eyes, his breath on Izuku's body.

Except... Izuku felt someone else as well today. Izuku felt watched, he felt admired.

And he knows very well that it wasn't Kacchan's stare he was sensing. They felt different, both intense and at times intimidating, but in such contrasting ways that there was no mistaking one for the other. Kacchan's gaze made him feel like he was burning, enveloped in a violent flame that gave him his very own light to shine in. Todoroki's made him feel like he _is_ the flame, dancing with the winds and flickering, faltering one second only to come alive the next. Kacchan wants to consume him in his fire, Todoroki wants to be consumed by Izuku's.

"Earth to Deku."

Uraraka waves a hand in front of Izuku's face and his breath stutters as he's pulled from his thoughts, his whole body trembling for only a second before he shakes his head and all the images and analogies inside it away.

"Sorry, I spaced out."

"You don't say." She replies dryly, flicking his nose playfully before grabbing him by the arm and dragging him away from the bar. "Come on, let's mingle, we're here to celebrate."

They join the rest of the group, chatting loudly and cheerfully. On Kirishima and Ashido's cue, they all raise their glasses, clinking them in the centre of their haphazard circle as they celebrate yet another successful flash mob. Izuku pushes his emotions to the back of his subconscious, resolving to think about this when there's no one to bear witness to his mutterings and mild panics over unwanted realisations.

Right now, he'll try to focus on his friends, on their joyous laughter and lame jokes, on stopping Ashido and Kaminari from trying to get him drunk or Kirishima from smothering him with bear hugs after he's gotten to the 'clingy' stage of his own drunken adventures. He listens to Asui go on about her ideas on how to edit the video, Jirou already telling her that she'll send the track over so she can have the best sound. He gets a little lost between a few conversations going on at once, Shinsou and Uraraka discussing some jazz routine they're planning while Camie is excitedly bouncing ideas off of Sero and Izuku on a choreography she's been putting together.

At the very least, his friends' lively behaviour is enough to keep his mind busy for the time being, distracting him from anything else that might be lurking in the darkest corners of his mind.

Though, when he finally gets to his apartment, not too late for what he's used to with his job but, at the same time, way past what might be considered decent to any normal human, Izuku is left alone with nothing but his thoughts when he crashes face first onto his bed. He tries to block out the two faces staring at him behind his closed lids, tries stop himself from feeling Kacchan's hands on his bare skin and imagining what Todoroki's might be like.

Izuku shudders, turning onto his back and staring up at the ceiling, barely seeing anything at all with the room shrouded in darkness. He stares for so long that his eyelids start drooping closed but he fights it, taken by an irrational fear of what might plague his dreams. Still, it's a losing battle, his mind drifting the longer he tries to stop it from doing so.

Colours start dancing above him, swirling reds mingling with whites, golden hues crashing against them until they all bleed out into an explosion of bright orange. In a sleepy and somewhat inebriated haze, Izuku reaches up towards the colourful display, his face warm and his chest warmer. Just as he slips further into the darkness that's pulling him down into melting against the comfort of his mattress, he feels the ghost of fingertips brushing against his own, already halfway into nonsensical dreams.

 **NOTES: I'm so sorry this took so long! I've been... struggling lately OTZ**

 **I don't know, uni just has me so mentally drained! But I tried my very best! I hope it's enjoyable nonetheless, though! Oh gosh ajsfnjana**

 **Thank you so much for reading and, as always, feel free to leave any feedback you may have!**


	13. Chapter 13

**NOTE:** **In chapter 6, I changed that Endeavor's event is now in 'three months' instead of 'two months' to work better with the timeline! Okay, that is all, supposedly xD**

 **After almost two freaking months, I FINALLY GOT OVER THAT TRANSITION BLOCK! akjghrkjgnakjgnkajgn**

 **Please enjoy!**

"Shouto, where are we going?"

Yaoyorozu very nearly shrieks as he grabs her hand and starts dragging her away from the studio as soon as she steps out of the front doors. Thankfully, his father had not graced their practice that day, and after the realisation he had about his feelings he had been in an exceptionally good mood which he intends to ride out for as long as he's able.

He's been doing an awful lot of thinking the past few days, thinking that may or may not involve a certain green-eyed dancer that Shouto has decided to get closer to. He may not be acting on his feelings just yet, he may be very aware that Midoriya doesn't want to jump into a relationship, but he is not about to let him slip right between his fingers either.

Taking his phone out of his pocket, Shouto checks the time and curses under his breath. Their practice ran a little later than he wanted it to and they were cutting it close. He picks up the pace and Yaoyorozu gasps.

"Shouto, please slow down. My legs are killing me."

"No time."

"You know, the breath it took you to say that, you could have actually answered my previous question." She pants, her annoyance clear as she struggles to keep pace with him.

Hardly even hearing her, Shouto just keeps walking, mumbling an apology that he only half means as he's too busy glaring at the time to stop it from moving any further. By the time they actually make it to their destination, Yaoyorozu had figured it out on her own somewhere in between his mild panic when the traffic lights seemed to be working against him. He breathes out in relief when he spots Uraraka still at the bakery's register even though it should be closing fairly soon.

Shouto hates to be _that_ costumer but he won't take that long. He's not really there for the cake anyway – even if that's a big bonus, should his growling stomach have any say in the matter. He already knows that Yaoyorozu is going to scold him not only for the fact that he could have technically just asked her for the girl's number but also for what he was about to ask her.

Granted, Shouto always thought that if he had any personal requests, he should ask for them face to face. Texts seem much too detached and like they would in no way manage to convey his intentions (or despair). He already struggles to make his feelings known when talking, let alone through cold text. No, it is better this way.

Finally letting go of Yaoyorozu, he approaches the counter, trying not to flinch at the way Uraraka rolls her eyes as soon as he steps through the door. Shouto can see the transition from a forced smile to a more genuine one when she notices them, feeling at least some sort of relief that she's happy to see it's not just some random inconsiderate customer coming in at the last moment. Even if he's technically just that…

"Uraraka…" He starts, his tone as apologetic as he hopes his expression reads.

"Todoroki! So nice to see you again so soon! What can I do for you?"

Shouto eyes the cakes for a moment. "If I could have some strawberry shortcake to go, that would be lovely. I-if it's not too much trouble." He wants to take some for himself, but better appease Yaoyorozu's rage instead by taking her favourite.

"Of course, will that be all?"

"Not really. I wanted to ask you something."

Uraraka looks at him curiously as she takes care of his order and Shouto shifts awkwardly, rubbing at the back of his neck. He feels Yaoyorozu's eyes burning holes into his back, already picturing the suspicious line of her lips that will soon be replaced by disbelief and quite possibly aggravation. Still, when Uraraka urges him to go on, he clears his throat and braces himself for the worst.

"It's about Midoriya." The raised eyebrow she shoots him sends a cold shiver down his spine and he's not sure if it's the interest glinting in her eye or the fact that she's in no way surprised. "I want… I want to have more in common with him and dance is obviously a big part of his life but I feel like my area of expertise is too different from his. Ballroom and… well everything you guys do are worlds apart."

As Uraraka finishes decorating the cake box with a neat little purple bow, she hums thoughtfully, turning to the register again to ring up the total.

"Do you have a point you mean to make with this?" Yaoyorozu pipes up from behind him, the beginnings of a reprimand already seeping into her voice.

Clearing his throat, Shouto goes on. "Would it be too much to ask if you could teach me one of Midoriya's preferred styles? Maybe just a short routine? I will compensate you for your time, of course."

Uraraka's face lights up at the mention of money, her lips twisting into a devious grin that gives Shouto pause. He's in too deep to back out now.

There's a hand on his elbow in an instant, Yaoyorozu turning him around to take the brunt of her disapproving glare head-on. Shouto feels the urge to shrink in on himself from both of the girl's stares, one ready to string him along while the other is about to smack him for being an idiot. The last one is very much deserved and he knows it, but he finds himself ignoring the intimidating effect in favour of Uraraka's enthusiasm.

"And when will you find time to even do that?" Yaoyorozu asks incredulously.

"I'll do it on my days off. If that works for you, Uraraka."

"Your days off are Sundays, right?" He nods and she grins even wider. "That works perfectly for me."

Shouto is once again pulled to look at Yaoyorozu's displeased expression. "Are you serious? You're going to run yourself ragged. Need I remind you we are practicing _two routines_ right now? Two _extremely strenuous_ routines, mind you? You _need_ to rest your body."

He opens his mouth to protest, then closes it again, not having any valid arguments to counter hers. She is just looking out for him, he knows that, but at the same time…

"How about once every two weeks, you seem like the type who picks up steps quickly." Uraraka suggests with a deceptively sweet smile.

That piques Shouto's interest. Yaoyorozu's frown deepens as Uraraka's smirk grows.

"I could do that."

"No, you can't."

"I'll be fine, Momo."

"He'll be absolutely fine. I won't go hard on him. Scout's honour."

With a defeated sigh, Yaoyorozu takes the cake and glares at Shouto again. "If I have any _hint_ that you're burning yourself out, I'm pulling the plug on this and you're not allowed to even _look_ at Midoriya-san for at least three weeks."

She stomps away, leaving him to pay for the cake as Uraraka takes the money with a nervous chuckle.

"That bad, huh?" Shouto shrugs. "By the way," Uraraka opens the register, "I've never been a scout in my life."

* * *

Shouto is _not_ fine. And not even because of the strain to his body. No, that's the least of his worries, he is actually feeling pretty good. Uraraka never lets him go on for too long and he is in fact pretty quick at picking up the steps but he just _can't seem to get it right_. Not the routine, not the cues, nothing technical; Uraraka has even gone as far as to say that his form is beyond perfect and, normally, that would be a good thing. But both he and her can see it in the mirror every time they do it again.

There's no emotion there. His movements are perfect but they don't flow nicely, he's too stiff, nothing like Midoriya, nothing like Uraraka, nothing like Bakugou or any of the others.

With an exasperated huff, Shouto lets himself fall to the polished floor, turning onto his back and catching his breath as he stares up at the ceiling, the music continuing past their last cue until Uraraka goes to her phone to finally turn it off. It's been a whole month already – which really only works out in two days of practice, but that is beside the point – and Shouto feels like he is no better at this than when he started. The routine is quite simple for his and Uraraka's standards, and he really got it down on pretty much the second try but there was just that… _'je ne sais quoi'_ missing, as Aoyama would have so eloquently put it.

There's shuffling by his side and Shouto turns to see Uraraka sitting cross-legged by his side, resting her chin on her hands as she smiles brightly at him. If he didn't know any better from their short time together, he'd say she looks cute, but there is a ruthless devil lurking beneath those pink cheeks and short stature. Not that she isn't nice, but she really can be devastating with her words.

"I'm sorry, Todoroki, but if that's what you're planning to use to win Deku-kun's heart, you're not getting far with him."

 _Case in point._

They had been talking a lot more, seeing as she had given him her number to make setting up their practices easier. It turned out she was quite easy to talk to and Shouto could see why both Midoriya and Yaoyorozu seemed to like her so much. Although, she had a thing for meddling, as it turned out, seeing as the first thing she managed to do was drag a confession out of him the moment they started talking. Embarrassing as it may have been, he'd be lying if he said it wasn't nice to have someone closer to Midoriya making it easier for them to meet and get to know each other better because she wanted to help them both. He enjoyed the short coffee dates – or whatever they really were – he managed to schedule with Midoriya because of her.

That being said, Shouto still hadn't made much progress in what he initially enlisted her help for.

He lets out another heavy sigh and continues to examine the fluorescent lights above him as she keeps going.

"But worry not, you're not yet a hopeless case. I think your problem is that you think too much about the steps and don't let yourself _feel_ them. What do you do when you dance for competitions? I'm sure they judge you on more than just technique."

"While that may be true, if you're nothing short of perfect, there's not much the judges can take away in terms of points." He pants, rubbing his face with his hands before wiping the sweat off his brow on his shoulder.

Uraraka hums then continues. "Why do you dance, Todoroki?"

Immediately, every muscle in his body tenses, his jaw locks and his breath gets stuck in his throat, anger coiling in his gut before he squeezes his eyes shut and wills it to die into nothing more than small embers.

"That's unimportant." He settles for a vague reply.

"You see, that's the most important part, really. If you don't dance for the right reasons, it is never going to feel right."

Shouto considers her words for a moment then sits up, facing her. "Why do you dance, then?"

"That's easy, because I love it. I work hard, for far too many hours, because I have to pay my bills and help my parents with theirs too. I dance because, whenever I do, all those responsibilities don't seem to matter. Deku-kun showed me that. He showed me my reason to dance. Why do you dance?"

His gaze falls down to the floor and Shouto starts to draw loose patterns on his pants. Years and years of working himself to the bone flash before his eyes, practicing for the sole purpose of being perfect and appeasing his father to avoid any repercussions. He dances because he has to.

"If you can't tell me that, tell me at least why you _want_ to dance." Uraraka breaks through his thoughts.

The words resonate within him and he blinks slowly, turning them over inside his head. The first night he met Midoriya comes to mind, the liberating feeling of copying his moves just because they seemed like fun. He thinks of the first video he watched of Midoriya dancing, of the raw emotion in every single movement, how that translated in every single video he watched after. It could be that the feelings weren't the same with every one, some more light-hearted than others, but they all made him _feel_ something. And then the flash mob, how Midoriya was moved to tears by everything he felt while he danced, how choked up Shouto felt himself while watching it.

His mind continues to drift further back, to a time where he looked at videos of his mother on stage and how enamoured he was with it all. A pang of guilt shoots through him at how just recently he pretended not to even know of the show in her honour, of how painful it would have been to watch someone else dance her role and not do it justice. Suddenly Shouto is reminded of who he wanted to become such a long time ago, of who Midoriya made him want to be all over again with just a few smiles and heartfelt dance moves.

Hugging his knees to his chest, Shouto lets out another breath.

The thing he loved the most when watching his mother and that he loves when watching Midoriya is that their dancing transcends language. Anyone who watches can be immersed in the beauty of their movements, can be carried into a wholly different world by just letting themselves be lost in the motions. There is something about watching them, they make it look effortless even if they make mistakes, because everything flows from within. The routine doesn't have to be perfect, the steps don't have to be taken at just that angle, the dips don't have to go exactly that low. All that matters is that their story comes across in their dance.

They are free in the little world they create around them, the lights bounce off of them and come alive with every twist and every turn. Their bodies paint pictures with no brush, write an epic with no words, they make music with no notes.

That is what Shouto wanted to achieve with his dancing. That is what he wishes he could do even if all he is allowed to do is be perfect. He wants to find that perfect imperfection where there's a narrative someone else can get lost in with him.

"I want to tell stories…" He finally mumbles, more to himself than to Uraraka, but she seems to be happy with his response all the same.

"Who do you want to tell them to?"

Shouto blinks at her, thinking for a second before averting her gaze once more. "Anyone who wants to hear them…" _Midoriya most of all._

There's a knowing glint in her warm brown eyes when she gets up and offers him her hand. "Then make sure you think about them when you dance. Come on, one last time."

After a moment, he takes it, standing up and dusting himself off. She starts walking to her phone before taking one look at him and stopping dead in her tracks, looking as if she just had some sort of epiphany. Immediately, Shouto feels a cold shiver run down his spine. He watches in uncomfortable silence as she paces back and around him, staring him up and down with a small frown.

"What is it?"

"I thought that talk would help loosen you up. But you still look just as stiff." She sighs, tapping her chin before crossing her arms over her chest. "This won't do."

Shouto thinks of actually apologising, though it seems a little silly when it's not really something he can control. Awkward might very well be his default state of being to be completely honest. Uraraka moves closer, stepping right into his space, which only serves to make him tense even more, taking an instinctive step back as he lifts his hands up defensively.

When she pokes his side, he jerks away with wide eyes, a small gasp escaping his lips at the tingly sensation the jab elicits.

"What are you—" She pokes him again. "Hey, stop th—" Another poke. "I said st—" She moves to do it one more time and he grabs her wrist to stop her.

That evil glint returns to her eye as soon as he does and she holds his wrist back before he can think to react, pulling him to her as her free hand travels to his waist and she twists him and trips him with one of her feet. Instead of falling flat on the floor, however, he falls into a dip that she holds surprisingly well despite their height and weight difference, smirking mischievously at him as he stares back with wide-eyed shock.

A breath marks the second that passes before she pulls him back to standing up straight, inadvertently bringing his hands to her shoulders to steady himself and she takes them to her hips before rolling them a little and stringing him along into a twirl. He tries to follow her lead, which feels a little strange considering he is usually the one doing the leading, into a loose pace that is somewhat reminiscent of the waltz. Except, every other step, she will poke a sensitive spot on his side and draw a small gasp out of him that throws him off of what should be an easy sequence for him to follow.

Shouto tries to recover after each one, focusing on his steps, only to be distracted by yet another poke.

"Stop thinking." She tells him, poking him again. "Start feeling."

"Wha—"

He trips and she catches him, making him twirl and rolling into his arms with her back to his chest before dropping down with a sensual curve of her body that Shouto follows with his own without realising.

"Just like that, see? Not so hard, is it?"

Uraraka giggles, moving back up and turning back to face him, bringing her arms up to his neck then wrapping one leg around his waist. As if having a mind of its own, Shouto's hand travels to the small of her back to hold her against him as he dips her back while he stretches sideways, her other leg stretching as well with the movement. She smiles up at him and he can't help the small tug at the corners of his mouth that follows, straightening back up and letting her find her footing before stepping back and giving him back his personal space.

"Think you can do that for the routine?"

Scratching his head sheepishly, Shouto gives her a noncommittal shrug. "I can try."

"That's all I ask."

He steps behind her while she taps her phone a couple of times, then imitating the soft piano notes in the air with a little giggle that draws a small laugh out of him as well. Standing next to each other, they get ready for the start of the routine as the music shifts to a jazzier beat. The singer's voice echoes and Shouto repeats the steps he's burned into his mind, practicing even in the quiet of his room as he silently hums the melody in a desperate attempt to just _get that missing piece_. A small slide, one step out, a wave of his arms followed by a simple pop of his shoulder, then turning back to the other side with a flourished move and back again with his arms wide open to lean down.

It's all the same as before, as he's done time and time again but it somehow feels different. The airy and playful mood from just moments ago carrying into his movements and stretching his lips into a relaxed smile. Their cues match perfectly, as they had done before, but Shouto sees her struggling to keep a straight face and fails himself. He falls into the awkward crouch with a laugh bubbling in his throat and pulls his legs together to then strut like a model for a couple of steps, letting his hips sway just that little bit that actually makes her laugh over the music.

His body rolls are still not as natural as hers, but he's giving it his all and Uraraka's amused grin when he grabs at his crotch on a whim makes him feel like maybe he's doing something right, continuing along with the moves they've practiced but with an added energy. And when they face each other with another pop of their shoulders, they're smiling at each other because they're _having fun_ , and if Shouto's still just a little awkward with these techniques that aren't quite the ones he's used to, it doesn't really matter. He carries on until their last cue and Uraraka spins away with a laugh, leaving him to stand and shift in mild embarrassment as the music continues.

Then, out of seemingly nowhere, he hears a chuckle that isn't his but is much too low to be Uraraka's and snaps his head towards the door to the supposedly empty hall to meet bright green eyes shining with mirth. Shouto's stomach flips at the sight of Midoriya holding his hands in front of his mouth, stifling more of his little laughs with a faint flush dusted over his cheeks.

"S-sorry, am I interrupting something?"

He snorts and Shouto feels his face catch fire, blood pooling on it as he turns away to hide, only to realise that there's a giant mirror on the other side and meeting the gaze of Midoriya's reflection instead.

"I didn't mean to pry, but I happened to come by and I heard music so I decided to check it out. That was adorable by the way, why didn't you tell me Ocha was teaching you?"

"It was supposed to be a surprise, Deku-kun." Uraraka chimes as she turns off the music once more.

Shouto tries to resist the urge to crawl into a hole and die and resolves to slowly sit down and hide his face behind his knees. "I can't believe you saw me dance like that. If you can even call it that."

"Oh, come on, it wasn't that bad. You were actually pretty good in that last one. I'd say I'm a great teacher."

"Yeah," Shouto hears the squeak of Midoriya's shoes as he likely steps inside and he peeks at the mirror to see him approaching. "I though it was quite nice."

"You should see what I'm working on with Momo, then. _That_ I'm good at." He blurts without thinking, immediately regretting it when the other two tilt their heads at him, Midoriya's gaze taking on that hopeful sheen that always seems to spell trouble for him.

"You mean I could watch one of your practices?"

 _In my old man's studio? As if._

"Yes."

Shouto snaps his jaw shut as soon as the word is out of his mouth and for a stupid half of a second, he actually hopes that the other didn't hear it. By the look of absolute excitement that suddenly takes over his features, all of his hopes shrivel up and die as quickly as they'd formed.

"That's awesome! Oh my gosh, I can't wait! This is amazing, are you sure?!"

 _No!_

"Why wouldn't I be?"

A small squeal breaks out of Midoriya and if it weren't for the fact that Shouto is absolutely mortified at himself, he might have actually stopped to admire it and how criminally cute it sounds. Picking himself up off the floor, it takes an awful amount of willpower for Shouto not to double over and heave, suddenly feeling overwhelmingly nauseous. If he didn't know any better, he'd say there was a tiny hint of excitement flaring underneath the crushing sense of doom looming over his head.

Still, it's hard to focus on any of it when Midoriya's hair bounces along with the rest of him and he grabs him by the shoulders, beaming up at him like Shouto had just given him the greatest gift anyone could possibly give.

"Just name the day and time and I'll be there."

 _God damn it._

"How about tomorrow?"

 **NOTE:** **AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH**

 **Gosh, I can't believe... It took me this long! I am so sorry... Uni was killing me, then Uni was over and I was writing TodoDeku week (expect that starting on the 9th!) and iTHAT/i killed me... BUT I HAD AN EPIPHANY IN THE SHOWER THREE DAYS AGO, FINISHED TODODEKU WEEK AND WROTE ALL 4.1K WORDS OF THIS CHAPTER TODAY! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH**

 **Okay, freak out over. I don't wanna make any promises of regular updates cus I'm being hit with wip ideas left and right and I'm also working on two big bangs, organising another one and modding a zine! So yeah! Super duper busy! But I hope after defeating this road block things will run a little more smoothly! Oh and you can find the choreography in this chapter in my profile!**


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